Those who labour  among you.

Paul exhorts the church of the Thessalonians to 'know' (recognise) those who are over them in the Lord and admonish them; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake (1.1:5.12). We customarily read such exhortations for what they seem to say about office rather than function and function viewed as job-description rather than qualitatively.  Not than any exclude the others but there are nuances.

In this connection, not only did the apostle Paul not pull rank on the Thessalonians by mentioning his apostleship but went out of his way to remind them of his hard he work among them. He put his life on the line, chose to please God rather than men and worked night and day - as he put it. It gave him a strong platform to chide the lazy and exhort them to do an honest day's work. Such was his work-ethic that though he was least of all the apostles, he laboured more abundantly than them all (1 Cor 15:10), which makes me wonder whether we sometimes get sidetracked into discussions about office, when we should be thinking about quality of service rendered. 

1 Thessalonians 5:12 is a case in point. He tells them to 'know' or recognise the leaders 'who labour among them and are over them in the Lord' not only in respect of their position but also because of the quality of their service. It is not just 'leaders' but 'leaders who labour or toil'. He seems to make a similar point in 1 Timothy 5:17, where he writes 'Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.' The words are beloved of Presbyterians who want to differentiate between ruling and teaching elders but how does the logic work?  Elders who rule well (ruling elders?) are worthy of double honour (reward) but elders who rule well and labour in preaching and teaching are especially worthy. The distinction then is not one of office but of quality. All elders who rule well are worthy of respect and reward but especially those who labour or toil in the word and doctrine. In other words, the playing field is level but the quality of service varies. Which means that  pay-wise there is nothing in it for the hard working elders but at the end of the day, they are more worthy of their double honour.

This fits well his tendency to excoriate self-appointed renegade teachers& spongers (of which there were many) and to praise those who work hard. People duly chosen and appointed to office must work hard in shepherding the flock.

I wonder then, if we are in the realm not of nouns and adjectives but of verbs and adverbs 'ruling well and toiling hard in word and doctrine - not to be overly grammatical about it.

Be holy! - the categorical imperative.  

I used to think that quietism was the same as holiness; something to do with a person's aura - an appearance of detachment from things that work against the soul. But quietism itself is not holiness, even if some holy people cultivate a quiet spirit after learning that this is what pleases God. Essentially, they have learned to put God first and devote themselves to him - which is holiness. The Old Testament priests were 'holy to the Lord' because they were devoted exclusively to His worship and service. Holiness is often construed negatively as 'separation from' sin and while God's holiness is indeed his separation from sin, it is foremost the mutual devotion of the three persons of the Trinity to one another. God's devotion to himself. This means that separation from sin is inherent in his nature because out of which flows in the personal, eternal, unchangeable and perfect love - the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for one another. Their consummate mutual devotion is such that no darkness can exist in the context of pure light.

Out of God's consummate holiness comes the categorical imperative 'be holy!' The simple rationale is 'be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.' Be like me! It is impossible for us to be like him ontologically and morally for we are creaturely and sinful, always doing battle with a heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked, a world that has turned its back on the Creator, a body which is so often the vehicle of sin and a Devil who is the enemy of our souls. First-century Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bythinia found the going hard. Their Christian profession seemed to work against them in an unbelieving and often hostile life-setting.

Yet the categorical imperative came to them as to us: 'Be holy, for I, the lord your God am holy.' As Christians we are committed to warring, a striving, following,  learning and persevering - to being 'transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.' (Rom 12:2) Is that a forlorn hope? Far from it! Augustine, who understood something about the nature of divine grace learned to pray 'give what you command and command what you will.' Paul writes 'Therefore, my beloved ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and do his own pleasure.' (Phil 2:12ff)