The artist Andy Warhol was famous for pronouncing that everyone at some point would enjoy 15 minutes of fame. The nagging fear, of course, is that you ve had your 15 minutes and didn t realise it. The UK band Bros had a hit song in 1988 with When will I be famous? – I guess the answer, for them, was the five minutes that song was a hit.
It would be nice to control it, though, wouldn t it? And, of course, many do in our world today. Perhaps not fame itself – that is often thrust upon a person; but that does not seem to stop people from trying to achieve a sort of fame through the various forms of social media… fame that is measured through a prodigious amount of likes , all based on presenting an appealing, attractive or intriguing image of yourself.
Our culture has been described as a surface culture, obsessed with image and presentation and this looks to be a large extent true. Our modern day celebrities – and our world more generally – are vitally interested in image control: presenting themselves and becoming known in the way they wish to be. Who are you? How do you wish to be known?
We can do this face-to-face with clothing, language and so on. As you dress for work in the morning perhaps the thought runs through your head about what your clothes will communicate to your workmates: power suit, maybe a little bit formal, a little bit casual, a tie or some other accessory that hints at a wild side…
As I understand it one of the advantages of social networking sites is that you can have a lot of control over the way you are presented to others. People choose their photos carefully to present a particular image. It could be someone they are not, or someone they always wanted to be – or, on a sinister note, someone who might be attractive to someone else, even though the reality is far from that.
I was interested to receive a brochure recently offering to help me with my personal brand . I get as annoyed as anyone by sportspeople and celebrities referring to themselves in the third person and as a kind of a brand, but I must admit the brochure caused me to pause and consider for a second or two: Brand Salier – what does that connote, what do I want that to connote… and then it all got too hard and kind of depressing, really.
What you want to be viewed as? What do you want to be known for? How do you want to be seen?
I guess this can be a corporate or community concern as well as an individual one. The brand Sydney Anglican – what does that connote? What about your local congregation in the midst of your community?
A little while ago my regular Bible reading focused on Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians and a very familiar phrase caught my attention. Paul begins his letter with this little phrase and ends it as well, which seems to give it some prominence in the letter.
Paul begins by giving thanks, as he usually does in his letters, for the Thessalonians. He remembers before God their work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope (1:3). And then at the end of the letter, in a moment of exhortation, he reminds the Thessalonians that since they belong to the day and not to the night that they should arm themselves with the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation (5:8).
When Paul thinks of the Thessalonians he thinks faith, hope and love; when he finishes his letter he urges them to continue to grow in faith, hope and love. And as we read through the letter we can trace the connections he makes to these three graces.
Paul reports how the Thessalonians have turned in faith to God from idols and, in fact, in the regions around them this is well known (1:4-8); they are renowned for this, we might say. He mentions this again in 3:6 as he delights in Timothy’s report concerning both their faith and their love.
He speaks of the Thessalonians love for one another – or rather, he says he doesn t have to speak to them about this because they are so good at it. Just keep at it, he says (4:9-12).
And he speaks of their hope: they are waiting expectantly for the return of Jesus to rescue them from the coming wrath of God at the final day (1:9-10). And he writes to clarify their hope; they had some timing questions about people who had already died and how it would all work out when the Lord Jesus did eventually return.
Faith, hope and love.
This little triad is familiar to us no doubt because Paul refers to it constantly in his letters. In fact, as we read through the first letter to the Thessalonians we see that Paul is exhorting his readers to follow his own model of faith, hope and love with all its consequences for Christian life, growth and service.
Simply put, faith looks backwards in trust as the gospel message is heard and believed and trusted: that Christ died for sins and was raised from the dead; that because of Jesus death we can be rescued from the coming wrath.
If faith looks backwards, then hope looks forward to the final consummation of all that Jesus has set in train. His return, our own rising with him or meeting in the air, the prospect of eternity lived in the presence of the Father and Son in the new creation.
And if faith looks backwards and hope looks forwards then love looks around. The Lord has saved us into the community of his people, and the love which we have been shown spills over in loving service and affection for our brothers and sisters and also to the world, for which we know our Lord Jesus gave himself and our heavenly Father loves.
Faith, hope and love.
This all sounds very basic. But it is so important. As we read Paul’s words we note that these three Christian gifts are not static but productive. In 1:3 he speaks of the work that their faith produces, the labour their love produces and the endurance that their hope produces. The word of God has sounded out from them through the surrounding regions, they have persevered as a congregation under persecution and they continue to grow in their capacity to love one another.
There is not a lot of detail of what these things might look like but there are hints through the letter and for the moment we need simply to note that faith, hope and love are generative: they produce a result that is observable in action, be it testimony, generosity or endurance under hardship.
Hearing about these things is a great encouragement to Paul in his own hardships because he sees evidence of the gospel he preached taking root.
Now, not only are faith, hope and love productive, they also continue to grow and strengthen. In Paul’s prayer in 3:10-13 he explicitly picks up at least two of the three again when he prays to God that the Thessalonians faith might be completed, their love increase and abound. Hope is there implicitly as well, as he refers to their being blameless before our God and Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus.
There’s probably a lot more that can be said, and maybe even should be said. But it is September and semi-final season in rugby league, and this always reminds me of the KISS principle: Keep it simple, stupid. Rugby league is a simple game and the team that wins the grand final will do so because it does the simple things well (apologies if you are not a league fan, just substitute your own favourite sport).
One of the things I am trying to work on a bit myself this year is the KISS principle. I find I can complicate things very easily in my Christian life and thinking. So, with that in mind:
Faith – based on the truth of the gospel and looking to the person of Jesus and all that he has achieved and reveals;
Hope – looking forward to the glorious return of our Lord Jesus and the final consummation of his kingdom in glory;
Love – looking around to brothers and sisters and beyond, seeking to serve in the manner of our Lord Jesus.
The Thessalonians were known for these things. What are we known for – and not just individually?
As a congregation of God’s people, they are known for their faith, hope and love. What a good aspiration for a congregation, a theological college, a diocese: to be known as places where faith is nurtured, love is practised and hope sustains. All of this rooted in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What are we known for? Let’s pray that individually and as a family of brothers and sisters, as communities of fellow learners in the deep things of God, that we will be known as those who have put the breastplate of faith and love on our chests and the helmet of the hope of salvation on our heads. And let us do this with the help that only the Lord can give.
Bill Salier
Bill Salier is Moore College’s Vice Principal and lectures in New Testament. He has been appointed to take up the strategic role of Principal at Youthworks College, he will leave Moore at the end of the year to take up this new work.
