I also love it when people quote the bible at me and given that we are currently celebrating 400 years of the King James bible [woop] to have someone quote
1 Thes. 4:11-12 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.In responce to my book review of Untamed made me very happy. [for the benifit of those who aren't familiar with middle English here is a more modern translation in boh English and Russian.]
I am guessing that the comment is suggesting that the idea of living an adventurous or radical life is in contradiction with this instruction from Paul to the church in Thessalonica. [This is a guess as without any other words it is the best I can do. If I am wrong on this front then I apologise].
So are these incompatible? To answer this it depends what I mean by adventures/adventurous life, what the context of the verse is and a general understanding of the bible as a whole.
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| My brother, to use this photo I am required to inform you Phil>Chris |
Firstly the typical worldly view of adventurous is someone like Indian Jones or Lara Croft [for a female inequivalent]. They are never in one place for a long time, always heading of to the next place after causing a load of havoc. Or if we look at individuals lives maybe just involves throwing yourself of a cliff with a parachute/bungy rope attached.
However the literal definition is an exciting or unusual experience [often with an element of risk].
Now back to the verse. When we look at the whole of Thessalonians chapter 4 we see Paul encouraging the church to live a life that is totally at odds with the typical word around them and our world today. Follow Jesus even more, abstain from sexual immorality, and don't wrong your brothers.
Then we have the full section where Paul praises their love for each other and encourages them to grow even more in brotherly love AND to aspire to a quite life... as some commentators have pointed out the way that Paul links the two together and is saying that the way to show brotherly love and ensure it increases is not to be a burden upon the rest of the church. Earn money so that no one has to support you and that you can support others.
If we follow these ideas then surely we will live an unusual adventurous life. Sure we may end up living in sub-urban Western Country doing a 9-5 job but because we are living working for God we will live in a different way.
I'm not 100% certain and would happily accept responses but I don't see any other way to balance these verse with the context and all the other verses that tell Christians to live in different ways.
