May God help our churches to glorify Him in its treatment of its pastors and one another. May we also thrive in every circumstance with joy, prayer, and gratitude. May we treasure the Word of God and trust God to glorify us when His Son comes again.

It is easy for pastors to say of a vibrant church, “You are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:20). On the one hand, such a church already following the Lord may “have no need for anyone to write,” and yet, on the other hand, the pastors would still say, “We urge you, brothers, to do this more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:9–10). The Thessalonians excelled in love and were encouraged to love the more. Some churches excel in many things but should be encouraged to excel yet more.

1 Thessalonians 5:12–24 contains a cluster of exhortations that, when obeyed, make the church a source of glory and joy to its pastors, just as the Thessalonians were to Paul, Timothy, and Silas (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:1). However well they did these things, Paul wrote from a distance to encourage them to excel still more, not only in love but also in all of the Christian life.

From this passage, we see that the church is a source of glory and joy when it …

…treats its pastors well (5:12–13)

Paul asked the Thessalonians “to respect… and to esteem them [their pastors] very highly.” Though the title “pastor” or an equivalent is not present, pastors are clearly in view. They “labor among” the flock, they “are over you in the Lord,” and they “admonish you.” A church is a source of glory and joy for a pastor as he serves them well and as they show their appreciation in return. This kind of relationship makes it easy to obey the final command in these two verses, “Be at peace among yourselves.”

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