Paul’s example
“I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you” (Romans 1:8).
“I always thank God for you” (1 Corinthians 1:4).
“I have not stopped giving thanks for you” (Ephesians 1:16).
“I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3).
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3).
“We always thank God for all of you” (1 Thessalonians 1:2).
“We ought always to thank God for you” (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
Here’s how I want to interpret these verses in the letters Paul wrote to various churches: “I thank God for those of you who are saved and growing and displaying His fruit in your lives.” Sometimes the context seems to imply that idea. Sometimes Paul goes on to include the reason that he’s grateful for a particular group. That reason usually applies only to Christians who are doing the right thing.
In many Bible studies of individual New Testament epistles, I’ve been told that the author is writing to believers alone. Everything in the book must be understood accordingly. Maybe I’m right in wanting to think that Paul is only addressing those who are saved when he says that he’s thankful for them.
But then I see those words “all” and “always.” I don’t like it, and I don’t have much hope that I can live up to it, but the implication seems to be that Paul thanked God for every person in every church all the time. Not just the believers. Not just those who were learning and growing. Not just those who were being good Christians at the moment. And I should do the same thing.
My struggle
Who am I actually grateful for in my local church? The leaders who teach the lessons that touch me in a meaningful way (even when it hurts). Those who are doing their best to follow Jesus—who treat others with kindness and respect, who have strong healthy marriages, who minister to those in need. The good people with the good hearts. I can be truly thankful for them.
I can even be somewhat thankful for those who aren’t yet Christians but are seeking the truth. There’s a certain excitement in hoping and praying that they’ll accept Jesus’ offer of salvation, and in being a part of that process.
But I struggle to be grateful for the majority of the people in my church. I have an especially hard time with those who claim to be Christians and yet who live such unChristlike lives that I have to question whether they actually believe the gospel. I try to be careful not to make myself the judge of who is and who is not saved. I try to remember that God alone knows the hearts of men. Therefore, not many people fall into this category in my mind. Do I have to be thankful for them anyway? It sounds like I do.
Next on my hard-to-be-thankful-for list are the ones whose salvation I don’t question, but who have certain quirks that go against all the Bible’s teachings and who show no signs of overcoming those quirks even after thirty years or more of new life. The ones outsiders call hypocrites and use as an excuse for rejecting the gospel.
The husbands and wives who bicker over every trivial issue, who’ve forgotten their vow to cherish each other, who are eager to blame and accuse rather than understanding and forgiving. Do I have to be thankful for these people? It sounds like it.
The gossip. The one who complains to me about something a mutual friend said or did, rather than forgiving that friend. Do I have to be grateful for the gossips in my church? I think so.
The man who experiences God’s provision when life is hard and “learns” that God will always take care of his needs, but goes right back to worrying intensely about his finances the next time his income drops off a bit. No change. No growth. Do I have to be thankful for this guy? Yes.
The elderly woman who condescendingly wonders what a twenty-something with purple hair and multiple tattoos and piercings is doing in our Sunday school class. I can be grateful for the younger one. I know something of her past and how much she’s wrestled with life’s challenges. Church should be the best place for her, among believers who can demonstrate God’s love and help her find healing. But am I thankful for that old lady, as Paul would have been? Not yet. I need to learn how to do that.
Why be thankful?
Part of my problem is that I feel like I have to have a specific reason to be grateful for a particular person. Maybe he’s a good Bible teacher. Maybe she always seems to call me just when I need someone to talk to. In all those verses cited above, Paul’s words of thanksgiving are often followed by “because. . . .” But in 1 Corinthians 1:4, he’s thankful for them “because of his grace given to you in Christ Jesus.” Not because of who they are. Not because of what they’ve done. But because of who God is.
How can I be grateful for the irritable spouses, the gossips, the ones of little faith, the critics? Shouldn’t I try to show them the error of their ways? Wouldn’t my attempts at correction imply that I’m not yet thankful for them, but if they’d just shape up, then I would be?
I’ve been mulling over this question for several weeks. How do I thank God for others without simply glossing over the habitual sin in their lives? I’ve been struggling in my attempts to offer honest prayers of thanksgiving for all of the people in my church. I’ve been laying my heart bare before God, asking for His mercy and guidance so that I can develop an attitude that would be more pleasing to Him.
And He’s begun to answer that prayer. He led me to the conclusion that I have at least two reasons to thank Him for each individual person in my church: that person bears the image of God, and God loves him more dearly than I can ever imagine. How could I not be thankful for God’s image walking around right in front of my eyes? How could I refuse to give thanks for someone God loves so deeply?
I can understand this idea in theory, but it’s hard to put it into practice, as Paul did. How could Paul always be thankful for all of the people in any given church? Maybe he could do it because God had loved him and reached out to him even when he was viciously attacking Jesus’ followers. Maybe his heart was so filled with gratitude after his experience on the road to Damascus that he could be thankful even for the most difficult people within each church.
Maybe if I was more deeply grateful for God’s grace and His revelation of Himself and His sacrifice in making His salvation available to all, I would be thankful like Paul for every person in my church all the time.
