History is the record of the battle of competing ideas and
philosophies that clash with one another in their effort to gain the
allegiance of men. The whole world is under the pressure of such
competing ideologies. Is theism or atheism the truth? Is liberalism
or conservatism the way to go in politics and theology? The whole
question of force or freedom is ever with us all the way from
international relations to our own family relations. The question is,
which is best, which is right, which is most effective in a given
situation? Is it ruthless self-assertion or gentle self-sacrifice? Which
is most effective in dealing with a nation you have defeated, or in
dealing with a criminal or a person with anti-social behavior?
The natural tendency of man is to choose force, for any thing
else is a sign of weakness. Peter was a good man, but he was
persuaded that the sword was the best way to handle things in the
Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus rebuked him and told him that those
who lived by the sword will perish by the sword. Paul was a
Pharisee of the Pharisees, and he was zealous for God. He was
throughly convinced that force was the best policy. He persecuted
and arrested Christians. He was involved in the stoning of Stephen.
Paul received authority to do this, and he asserted that authority.
Might is right was the philosophy controlling him, but he met a
greater master on that road to Damascus, and he received a new
heart and new instructions. He was now given the authority to go to
the Gentiles with the good news that Jesus Christ died for them, and
if they would believe they could be released from the chains of sin
and darkness. We want to look at the way in which Paul carried out
these new orders for his life. In contrast to his old ways, we see him
being God’s gentleman for the Gentiles.
The first thing we notice in this statement is the contrast from
what he was as a faithful Jew. Paul did not come to the
Thessalonians with an army, and with a sword in hand. What has
happened? Is Paul less zealous for Christ than he was when he was
against Christ? Has he lost his zeal? No! He has gained a new and
greater zeal and power, and it is the power of gentleness. He has
discovered that you only win a person when you convince them, and
not when you coerce them. Many have tried to force people into the
kingdom of God, but it is folly, for it does not work. People only
really become a part of the family of God by choosing to receive
God’s gift in Christ. You cannot force people to love Jesus.
Jesus had all power, and He sent disciples into all the world to
teach and preach. Paul was under that same commission, but he
was no longer to go with a sword of steel, but with the sword of
speech. He was not to go with weapons to cut and blast, but with
words to convince and bless. He was to go, not with soldiers to
compel, but with the Spirit to convince. Paul was to enter the
Gentile kingdom of darkness with the gentle weapon of light. Jesus,
the captain of our salvation, holds us each responsible for the use of
this weapon. He said, “Let your light so shine before men that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.” The Gospel is to spread by the power of gentleness and not
force.
When the church has forgotten this, and began to use physical
force to compel people to believe, it became corrupted by paganism.
Force has always failed to advance the faith, but love has never
failed. This is a principle in history that the philosopher Locke
observed as applying to all of men’s efforts. He wrote, “Gentleness
is far more successful in all its enterprises than violence; indeed,
violence generally frustrates its own purpose, while gentleness
scarcely ever fails.” We see this principle illustrated in so many
ways Western and gangster films. The bad guys are often defeated
by their own greed for power and possessions. They double cross
and betray one another. Little do the producers of these films
realize that they are promoting the principles of God.
Paul and many others since have proven the same true:
“Gentleness wins more hearts than sternness.” George H. Colvert
said, “The gentleman is a Christian product.” The whole idea of
persuading men and winning men by the gentle process of
enlightenment and friendship is foreign to men outside of Christ.
Force was everything in the ancient world, and still is in much of the
world. The Auca Indians, for example, could not even conceive of
such a thing before they came to know Christ. Force and the
impulse to kill was their natural reaction to other people.
Communism was devoid of gentleness. Forceful destruction of the
enemy was the foundation of their philosophy. They learned that
you can force people to do your will, but you can only win their love
and loyalty when they are free to give it.
Napoleon was amazed at the fact that Jesus never used force to
build His kingdom, and yet He had millions who would die for Him.
Alexander the Great, the Caesars and himself lost all they had built
by force, but Jesus has a kingdom that never ends, and keeps on
growing through the power of love and freedom. Does this mean
that Paul never exerted his authority? Not so, for he often did, and
even with this church when he commanded them to not let those eat
who were lazy and would not work. Paul could get tough, and he
was no weakling, but his basic attitude toward others was always
gentleness and kindness.
Henry Martyn the famous missionary said, “The power of
gentleness is irresistible.” Force is powerless against it, for all the
power of Rome could not halt the unarmed army of Christians
marching as to war, with only the cross of Jesus going on before. If
the Christians would have taken the sword, they would have been
crushed, but instead they loved their enemies, were kind to them,
and they defeated their foes with love.
Paul stirred up a lot of trouble wherever he went, but he never
hurt anyone. He never picked up stones or threw them back. He
never used a weapon. When he made converts he did not treat them
like a tyrant who had conquered them, but he was gentle and treated
them like his own new born children. This was no easy task. These
people were pagans, and they would be very ignorant of morality
and Christian doctrine, and so it would take great patience. There
would questions galore on superstitions, and there would be
arguments about old beliefs that would lead to quarreling. We get
something of the picture of what Paul went through by his counsel to
Timothy in a similar situation.
Paul wrote in II Tim. 2:23-25, “Have nothing to do with stupid,
senseless controversies: you know that they breed quarrels. And the
Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, and
apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”
If a Christian wins an argument by being rude, he loses more than
he gains, for though he wins the debate he loses his Christian
testimony which is worth far more. Paul urges Titus to teach the
Christians to be gentle in their relations with the world. In Titus
3:1-2 he writes, “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, to speak
evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect
courtesy toward all men.”
Where did Paul get this idea of gentleness being so basic in
human relations? He tells us in II Cor. 10:1 where he writes, “I,
Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.”
Jesus was called a friend of sinners because He could relate to the
worst of men and women and treat them kindly. The great contrast
in Paul’s life from being a zealous Jew using force to an even more
zealous Christian out to spread the Gospel by gentleness came about
because Christ dwelt within. Paul accepted the truth of Christ that
only the Holy Spirit silently working in the heart can ever win a soul
to Christ. Soul-winning is not by might or power. We don’t win
people by overwhelming them, but we win as Christ did by letting
His love, kindness and compassion or through our lives in
gentleness. Mrs. C. M. Sawyer wrote,
If a man thou wouldst redeem,
And lead a lost one back to God;
Wouldst thou a guardian angel seem
To one who long in guilt hath trod,
Go kindly to him-take his hand
With gentlest words within thine own,
And by his side a brother stand,
Till all the demons thou dethrone.
This might seem superficial and sentimental, but when we are
constrained as Paul was by the love of Christ, and seek to
communicate the simple Gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection,
we will discover it is the most potent force in life. I am more
convinced every day that true power is in gentleness. Like the silent
gentle rays of the sun are the most potent factors in natural life, so
the gentle kindness of the Christian is the most potent factor in
spreading the spiritual life.
In almost every case of a skeptic or hardened person I have
talked to there is some point in their life where the church failed
them. Christians were indifferent or cold toward their need, and
this set them against Christ. I have seen it in a woman who told me
that if some Christians would have stuck with her when she
discovered her baby girl was mentally deficient she might have kept
her faith, but they didn’t. Several women have told me of attempts
to seek Christian help when they had a deep need, but they were
given a cold shoulder.
All of the common virtues of kindness seem so weak and
inadequate, but people are always hungry to be accepted, and so the
gentle virtues have a greater impact than we realize. Every person
needs to be respected, and that needs to come through clearly when
we relate to them. If they do not feel this, they will not be open to
the Gospel. Medical missions are based on the philosophy that a
man you have helped cure or save from some disease will have an
open heart to what you say. Because he has benefitted by your
compassion and skill he will be open to what you believe.
Paul faced a self-centered society, and though we may be on a
higher level than those people of his day, we still live in a basically
self-centered society. The theme is to assert yourself, and throw
your weight around. The one time top play called Stop The World-I
Want To Get Off is about a man who lived the self-centered life. In
the end he wakes up to realize he has paid to high a cost and he
sings, “What kind of fool am I who never fell in love? It seems that I
am the only one that I have been thinking of.” As servants of Christ
we must love these kinds of people just as He did. It is only when we
love them in their sin that we can love them out of their sin.
This must not be interpreted to mean that we approve of sin.
Paul was forceful in his condemnation of the old life. Gentleness is
not weakness. La Rochefoucauld said, “It is only people who possess
firmness who can possess true gentleness.” Paul was certain about
God’s will, and so he could be truly gentle. It is only when we really
believe in the power of Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit
that we can be gentle in our relationship with all men. It is lack of
faith that drives people to harsh measures, and plans based on self-assertion.
All coercion and pressure in winning men is based on self-will and not faith.
Emerson said, “We do not believe, or we forget, that the Holy
Spirit came down, not in the shape of a vulture, but in the shape of a
dove.” The dove is a symbol of gentleness, and the Holy Spirit
works through gentleness in the world. He gains entrance into the
sinner’s heart by the door of love, and not through the door of force.
Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “Your gentleness shall force
more than your force move us to gentleness.” Paul would agree an
also say amen to that poet who wrote,
Who misses or who wins the prize?
Go, lose or conquer as you can,
But if you fail, or if you rise,
Be each, pray God, a gentleman.
