Paul the Apostle’s Masterclass in Shepherding (Part 2)
by Lilly Funk
Part 2 - I Sent to Know Your Faith
“For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love…we were comforted concerning your faith.” 1 Thessalonians 3:5, 6a, 7b
“For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?” 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10
In Part 1, we started to look at the way Paul uses the word faith again and again in these verses. Paul wanted to know the status of the Thessalonians’ faith so much that it was like a burden he “could no longer endure.” In our care for people, may we also have such a feeling.
In this part, we’ll talk about what Paul did in order to know their faith--what actionable steps Paul took to care for the Thessalonians. Our care for someone should also be actionable. Paul had a strong feeling inwardly, but let’s also look at what he did as a result.
Paul sent Timothy to “know [the Thessalonians’] faith.” This word “know” is so significant. The word in Greek is γνῶναι (gnonai), and its general meaning is “to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of” (Strongs). Paul sent Timothy to γνῶναι (gnonai) the Thessalonians’ faith. This is a common verb for “to know,” but it also implies learning, acquiring knowledge, coming into a state where you have knowledge you previously hadn’t. It even carries the thought of knowing “through personal experience (first-hand acquaintance)” (HELPS). We can imagine Timothy going to the Thessalonians, having meals with them, talking to them in groups and one-on-one, and living life among them for a few days. Paul didn’t say, “When I could no longer endure it, I wrote advice to you,” or “When I could no longer endure it, I asked you to write to me how you were doing.” He sent a brother to physically be among them.
Paul uses this same verb “to know” when he prays that the Ephesians would “know the love which surpasses all understanding.” There, Paul was talking about knowing God’s love. He wasn’t talking about knowing His love at a surface level and being done with it. He was talking about an experiential discovery that requires time spent in God’s presence, involving Him in our life, and walking closely with Him. In the same way, our seeking to know people is involved, invested, and experiential. It takes time spent with them, talking to them, living life with them. Christ moves in people, some less at times and some more at times, and this moving can be hidden and inward. Even the person He is moving in may not be able to put into words their own experiences of Christ. In order to go further than “yeah, I’m doing good,” we need to delve into their life. If we skip this step of finding out their faith and go straight to assuming that we know their faith already, we might assume their level of faith based on a struggle they’re going through in life, their attendance (or absence) at meetings, or our own projected experiences. If Paul had assumed about the Thessalonians in this way, he may have assumed that they weren’t doing well because of the persecution that was going on around them at that time. It makes so much more sense to visit, spend time with, and listen to people to have a more accurate picture of what is going on inside them.
A recent experience I had made this all come to light. My husband and I have been inviting someone who was recently baptized to Bible studies, events, and hangouts. She hadn’t shown up to many of our events and seemed to only attend when she felt like it. We interpreted her minimal response to mean that she didn’t have much interest in the Lord. This went on for a few months. Then one day I decided to just hang out with her. We went on a few runs together. We got to know each other. She began to consider me a friend. After a little while, she told me, in bits and pieces and out of chronological order, the entire history of God moving in her life since 2020. I was amazed and praised the Lord with her. She was so excited to be talking about it with me, and she started putting things together. I would mention a Bible verse that matched her experience, and things would “click” into place (her word). I felt like I was helping her put the puzzle pieces together to reveal a wonderful mosaic of moments in which God had been working in her life all along. I drove away from that conversation thinking, “Wow, this is what shepherding is. I’m just finding out what’s going on inside her. And now I have a clearer way to pray and be with her.”
Finding out someone’s faith may seem simpler or shallower than teaching or exhorting. In my experience above, all I did was run with my friend. But this also requires laying down your energy and time to continually be with someone (even if you don’t run two miles every time you hang out 😆). Sometimes for weeks or months you won’t see anything happen in them. Or it may take ten times of just chilling and getting to know each other until you can have open, deep conversations. But then, in those really precious moments when you do find out the faith that is in them, it’s like watching the Lord’s work unfold before your eyes. To me, this is like eating the food that Jesus talked about in John 4, “to do the will of Him who sent me” and be so nourished in the process.
God has chosen to limit Himself to our physical realm, our minds, and our wills. Instead of automatically giving us every bit of spiritual knowledge when we were saved, He chose to give us the Bible so that we could use our minds to understand the facts and then interact with Him about it on a heavenly level. In the same way, He chose to give us our minds and bodies to go out and learn about our friends and families, then bring what we’ve learned before Him in prayer. Situations always differ. But we can ask ourselves, “can I visit this person, have a call with them, even send them a text, to start to find out more about what the Lord is doing in them?” If the answer is yes, let us go out and engage our minds to shepherd, and our prayer for them can become so well-informed and in-real-time, just as the Lord is working in real time. There is value in bringing a name in prayer before the Lord, but how much richer that prayer can be if we’ve sought to be informed, we’ve learned of their faith, and we have given time to find out what the Lord has already been doing.
From this phrase, I sent to know your faith, we learn from Paul that a big part of shepherding is discovering the moves and interactions with the Lord that are happening inside someone. May we learn to be with people in this way, not because we are experienced shepherds, but because we are so interested in finding out what the Lord is doing in people. May we be willing and eager to take time out of our lives to talk with people, ask them questions, listen to them, and get to know them, just like Paul sent Timothy to live among the Thessalonians and get to know their faith.
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