"Nobody has time for anybody anymore"

• The duality of human nature: otherness and selfishness

Mobility of peoples and cultures is a fact of our modern world and yet in this freedom of movement there is a problem. “People living in ethnically diverse settings appear to ‘hunker down’ – that is, to pull in like a turtle,” an eminent political scientist has found. Robert D. Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, conducted a massive new study based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across the United States of America.

He found that those in more diverse communities tend to “distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin, to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television.” [1]

As my nephew, studying at a university in Norway, recently observed (but in a different context), “Nobody has time for anybody anymore.” [2] Is that the way modern life is? U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Max Voelz and his wife, Staff Sgt. Kim Voelz both served in Iraq in explosive ordinance disposal, the Army’s elite bomb squad. Husband Max said of his wife:

“We deployed in 2003. We were in the same unit. And she ripped bombs apart by hand in Iraq just like I did. But she died on an incident that I sent her on. . . . And when I receive a condolence letter from a high-ranking government official that says Mrs. Voelz, we’re sorry for the loss of your husband, it just makes it seem like nobody knows we exist.” [3]

Then Max turned to another bomb tech, Sgt. Mary Dague, for support. She had lost both her arms in Iraq. During his low points they talked a lot over the internet. StoryCorps had them meet face-to-face for the first time and to talk about what happened:

DAGUE: Why did you first contact me?

VOELZ: I was in a pretty dark spot at the time. And another bomb tech thought that talking to you would help. And it did.

DAGUE: I remember it took a while to get you to talk.

VOELZ: Yeah, then I wouldn’t shut up.

DAGUE: I’m OK with that. I really just wanted to reach through the computer and hug you. Like it’s OK – well, it’s not OK, but it’ll get better.

VOELZ: Yeah.

DAGUE: You do seem a lot happier.

VOELZ: I’m glad. (Laughter) I am. I mean, I’m always going to have the can’t sleep and the nightmares. But basically, you have a gift of helping people who are depressed. [4]

• The dual nature of humanness

According to the Bible, humanness has a two fold nature: God created us to be other-centered, and yet we inherit a selfish nature from our first human parents, who rebelled against God. Genesis 1:26-27 teaches:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. . . .”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

“God” (Elohim) is a plural noun and yet “said” is a singular verb. Here God said, “Let us … in our . . . after our . . .” In the fullness of God there is singularity and yet there is also fullness of relationship. When Jesus Christ came to earth, this seed of truth became understood. There is one God and in his fullness there are three persons – God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God.

In addition, the original man and woman (who were husband and wife) rebelled against the Lord God (Genesis chapter 3) and, as a result, gave birth to children in their selfish image who lived selfish lives (Genesis chapter 4). But God in mercy began a rescue mission that culminated in sending his Son to be the Savior of the world.

• A new society

In 1 Thessalonians chapter one, certain people out of the 200,000 inhabitants of ancient Thessalonica have turned from idols (false gods and philosophies) to the true and living God. Although consisting of various minorities, they were mostly Greeks. The people who have “turned” now have an other-centered relationship with our God and Father, our Lord Jesus Christ (who died for our sins and rose again) and with the Holy Spirit (whose power and joy accompany the Word of God being proclaimed). The action of God has created a body of people who are united to Christ and endowed with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 these people are enjoined to be have regard for their leaders (5:12-13), act responsibly to others (5:14-15), have reverence towards God (5:16-18) and receive the prophetic word of God (5:19-22).

If we have joined this company of people and become part of the body of Christ, how do we live other-centered lives? How can we lay aside self-centered living and care about others? 1 Thessalonians 5:13b-15 gives us guidelines:

^13bBe at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ¹⁵See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

“Among yourselves” (5:13b). This is not a utopian society ruled by elites, governed by stability and austerity, and enforced by totalitarian rule. This is a spiritual reality of people whose lives have been changed by the action of the triune God. They have been joined to a mystical body and are bound by voluntary selflessness. St. Paul the apostle wrote 1 Thessalonians from Corinth about AD 50. Later he explained this truth more fully in 1 Corinthians, written from the neighborhood of Ephesus in early AD 55:

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Cor 12:12-26 ESV)

Thus, biblical peace in the new society is not simply harmony among disparate peoples (nationalities and cultures) and the absence of hostility (1 Cor 12:13). But it incorporates the ideas of living out one’s vocation as a member of the body, human flourishing, wholeness, contentment and delight as we live in fellowship with our Creator and Savior and with each other. [5]

“Be” (5:13b, “be at peace” is one word in the original Greek). As those living in community, Christ the Lord through his apostle commands us (through a series of imperatives) to adopt an other-centered outlook. This is a duty and must be a conscious decision. “You have turned from false gods and philosophies to the true God and the true doctrine and philosophy of life. You have been united by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Now live that way.” The appropriate responses include: “This I will do.” “This is my prayer.” “This is my aim, objective, and goal.” “This I will do today and each day by the Lord’s strength.” To sweep in the thought of verses 14-15, the Scripture is saying: Don’t slip into a shell of indifference, isolation, and idleness. Don’t allow yourself to become passive and complacent. Pray for strength. Be courageous. Take action. Look around. Let your light shine. Live out the truth of community. Let there be brotherly love. Reach out. Love your neighbor as yourself.

• Other-centered living

There are seven areas of focus.

(1) “Be at peace among yourselves” (5:13b). The Gospel is the gospel of peace – peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1). It makes no sense for the Gospel of peace to be laced with the toxins of strife and ill-will, for the Gospel of reconciliation to be diluted with the vitriol of enmity and hostility, and for the Gospel of love to be poisoned with the venom of hate and bitterness. There can be strong disagreements among brothers and sisters in the Lord. But there are amiable ways to disagree and go on. Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the Gospel together throughout Syria, Cyprus and Asia Minor and then reported back to the Church of Antioch, which had sent them. They disagreed sharply on whether to take John Mark (who had abandoned the work on the first journey) with them on the return visit. So Barnabas took John Mark and Paul took Silas, and they took separate routes at different times. Yes, the teams worked separately, but both stayed friends and both were a blessing to the newly founded churches (Acts 15:36-41).

(2) “Admonish the idle” (5:14). “Admonish” (Greek noutheteo) can convey various ideas: warn, counsel, reprimand, verbally confront. It is tempered by the earlier command of “be at peace” and therefore may stated as “peacefully, lovingly confront” someone. It emphatically does not mean, “get in the face of someone and start screaming.” The term “idle people” originally described a soldier who had left (quit) the ranks or who had been guilty of unruly conduct (had quit acting by the rules required of soldiers). In the papyri found in Egypt contemporary with the New Testament, the word had the meaning of “idlers” (people who had quit working, that is, were being lazy). Thus, the phrase means “warn the quitters” and could apply to a variety of circumstances.

(3) “Encourage the fainthearted” (5:14). “Encourage” (Greek paramutheomai) conveys the ideas of “console, comfort; encourage, cheer up.” “Fainthearted” (Greek oligopsukos, literally “little souled") refers to being “fainthearted, timid, apprehensive, discouraged.” A gloomy disposition or jarring circumstances may cause someone to feel timid, apprehensive, or down in the dumps. It is our job to encourage the discouraged.

Worldly wisdom paints a different picture from 1Thessalonians. Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), the British philosopher who in 1950 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote:

Man is the product of causes which had no pre-vision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms. There is no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling which can preserve an individual life beyond the grave. . . . Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built. [6]

To the contrary, spurred by the Letter of 1 Thessalonians, we carry on the work of faith, the labor of love and the steadfastness of hope in union with our Lord Jesus Christ. Endowed with the Word of God and the Spirit of God, we have turned from false gods and false philosophies, we have – at the same time – turned to the living God, and we wait for his Son from heaven (1 Thess 1:3,9-10). On our pilgrim way we encourage the timid, give confidence to the apprehensive, and cheer up the discouraged (1 Thess 5:14).

(4) “Help the weak” (5:14). “Help” (Greek antexomai) means “cling to, hold firmly to, be loyal to, help.” “Weak” can refer to various kinds of weakness: emotionally weak, infirm in body, or not having a fully informed Christian conscience (Rom 14:1 – 15:13). William Barclay, a New Testament scholar of an earlier era, explains the image of clinging to the weak:

Instead of letting the weak brother drift away and finally vanish altogether, the Christian community should make a deliberate attempt to grapple him to the Church in such a way that he cannot escape. It should forge bonds of fellowship and persuasion to hold on to the man who is likely to stray away. [7]

In addition to the primacy of faith, clinging to the weak could involve various kinds of spiritual, emotional and physical support.

(5) “Be patient with them all” (5:14).  Literally, the Greek reads “be patient with all.” It means to be patient with the three previous categories of persons but also with everyone in the body of Christ. “Be patient” (Greek macrothumeo) was wonderfully translated by William Tyndale as “be long suffering.” It is a characteristic of God (Isa 57:15 Septuagint; Rom 2:4; 9:22; 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:9). If God has exercised such great patience and longsuffering with us, how much more ought we to have patience and longsuffering to others. It is our calling.

Former pro football star and coach Tony Dungy told the following story about his father’s Christian character:

My dad was usually a quiet, thoughtful man. A scientist at heart and by training, Wilbur Dungy loved to be outside, enjoying the scenery. Fishing allowed him time to contemplate, to listen, and to marvel at God’s creation. My dad used fishing to teach his children to appreciate the everyday wonders of the world God created—the sandy shoreline, the dark, pine forests, the shimmering water, and the abundant wildlife. The lessons were always memorable, whether we caught a lot of fish or not.

Although we fished countless times together throughout our lives, one particular day stands out in my mind. It was a summer day in 1965. Summers in Michigan are beautiful, with comfortable temperatures and clear, blue skies. I was nine years old, and my brother was five. My dad had taken us fishing at one of the many small lakes around Jackson. On that day, my dad was teaching my brother and me how to cast. We were both working on it, mostly in silence, until my dad’s voice finally broke a period of stillness.

“Hey, Linden, don’t move for a minute, please.” I looked back and watched my dad move his hand toward his face. Calm and deliberate, he continued to speak.

“Now, Linden, always make sure that you know not only where your pole is when you’re starting to cast”—at this point, I realized my dad was working my brother’s hook out of his own ear— “but also make certain that you know where everyone else is around you.”

I learned something about proper casting that day, but I also learned something about patience. Years later, when I got hooked myself, in my hand, I realized how much it hurts. Remembering my dad’s patience that day when Linden’s hook was caught in his ear, I finally understood the importance of staying calm and communicating clearly. [8]

(6) “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil” (5:15). Revenge can be taken in grotesque, horrible ways as well small, subtle ways. An often repeated anecdote from the Korean War illustrates the subtle form:

During the 1950’s Korean Conflict, six American GI’s were assigned to a housing unit. Fighting had calmed down, so they found themselves living in close quarters with extra time on their hands.

Predictably, they soon started playing practical jokes on each other…sneaking up on each other, rubber snake tricks, etc.

Quickly tiring of these games, they started pulling these little pranks on their houseboy Wan. They liked this good natured Korean boy - happy to have the job - and figured they’d include him in their practical jokes.

They would tie his boots together while he was sleeping and make loud clanging noises with their mess kits. Wan would jump up, thinking the enemy was attacking, and fall right on his face. Ha Ha!

They’d hang a bucket of water above his door and place a tripcord in the threshold. Then, they would call Wan into the room, and watch him get drenched.

One day the soldiers were sitting around drinking, and someone commented that Wan seemed a little down. They quickly realized that the cause of Wan’s depression was the practical jokes they had been playing. They had only meant to make him feel included, but obviously he only felt humiliated. The soldiers apologized and promised never to do it again.

Wan’s quick reply was “OK, GI…then I’ll stop spitting in your soup.” [9]

It is not wrong to use the protection of law and the court system. St. Paul the apostle did so (Acts 23:12-35; 25:1-12). But the Lord Jesus strictly forbids personal revenge: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:38-39).

(7) “Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (5:15). Literally, “always pursue the good with-a-view-to one-another and with-a-view-to all.” “Pursue” means to actively seek after, strive for, follow, run after. “Good” is that which is upright, just, kind, generous, useful, beneficial, sound. It is not only our calling to live at peace with one another but also to strive after and seek out the good of all people. The truth of the Gospel (the tremendous goodness and kindness and mercy of God to us sinners through Christ) translates into a life of voluntary selflessness that seeks to show goodness and kindness and mercy to others. A proverb of India says, “You don’t cut off a person’s nose and then give him a rose to smell.” Professing the Gospel and displaying evil words, emotions, and conduct is a contradiction in terms.

Getting good at anything takes long hours of disciplined practice. Through the Gospel, the goodness of God – of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – has been made ours. Our turning away from false gods and philosophies has caused us to turn to the living God and follow the way of Christ the Lord. Each day provides a new opportunity to come out of our shells of indifference, isolation, and idleness and to actively practice the Gospel as members of the New Society, the Body of Christ. Practice peace. Kindly confront quitters. Encourage the fainthearted. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Never retaliate. Seek the good of all.

[1] Michael Jonas, “The Downside of Diversity,” The Boston Globe, August 5, 2007.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/?page=full

[2] David Lund, Facebook post 11/9/2014. His context is different than this essay. He was discussing the fruits of a high amount of state control in a society.

[3] “Bomb Techs Work Through ‘Dark Spots’ To Brighter Lives,” NPR Morning Edition, November 07, 2014. From the transcript. http://www.npr.org/2014/11/07/362010372/bomb-techs-work-through-dark-spots-to-brighter-lives

[4] Ibid.

[5] See further I’Ching Thomas, “Jesus: The Path to Human Flourishing,” Just Thinking, June 20, 2014. http://www.rzim.org/just-thinking/jesus-the-path-to-human-flourishing/

[6] Bertrand Russell cited in Bruce Narramore and Bill Counts, Freedom from Guilt (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1974), p 42.

[7] William Barclay, 1 Thessalonians (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1975.

http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/view.cgi?bk=51&ch=5

[8] Wess Stafford, Just a Minute (Chicago: Moody Press, 2012), pp. 73-74.

[9] John Patrick Dolan, “Spitting in Your Soup,” Negotiate like the Pros (blog), n.d. http://negotiatelikethepros.com/spitting-in-your-soup/

Art work: (head with hands) Diana J. Bjel, “Angel and the Pig”; and (face looking at curled object) William Brouillard, “Steam Punk Portrait Tile #5” - both part of the exhibit “CLAY . . . Not the Usual Suspects,” the Gallery, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio, September 25 to November 7, 2014.