The Method Pt. 3 The Life That Wins 1 Thessalonians 1:1–5

The Life That Wins

God's Method starts with Him seeking us, then we see the role the message of the Gospel plays in the process.  Today we will examine the third part of God's method which is the life that wins. This is the main role we play in the method God uses.  When I say "The life that wins" I'm not talking about a life that gets an award for being the best missionary or saving the most souls. I'm not talking about a life that wins for itself. No, instead I'm talking about a life that wins for God. It is so easy to overlook the last part of verse 5. I cannot tell you how many times I have read these verses and read this passage and read this book of 1 Thessalonians, and never even seen the last part of verse 5. I got so wrapped up in the God who seeks, in verse 4. I got so wrapped up in the gospel that saves in the first part of verse 5 that I forgot about the third part of the method.

  Paul says this, "You know how we lived among you for your sake." This is such a simple statement. It is so easy to overlook, but this statement carries so much power and so much impact. The apostle Paul lived his life in a way that was so holy and so pure and so open and so transparent, he could look at people, or he could write to people and he could say, "You know how I live my life. I have nothing to hide. There are no skeletons in my closet. There is nothing about me you have not seen. I have lived it out in front of you, and I've done the best I can."
  Paul said this in the most humble way, for it was Paul who said, "I am the worst of all sinners." He didn't think he was above anybody. He lived his life in such a way where other people could see him striving toward the goal. Paul, time and time again, tells people, "You know how I live my life. Imitate me."

  In the book of Philippians, he says it two times, in chapter 3, verse 17, "Join with others in following my example," he says. "Join with others in following my example brothers." In the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verse 9, he says, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice." In the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 4, he says in verse 16, "Therefore I urge you to imitate me." Paul lived his life in a way that won. It won souls.

  He lived his life in a way that as he encountered people, he could look them in the eye and say, "Just imitate me." Not in a bold way, not in a cocky way, not in an I'm better than you way, just in a way that said, "I'm doing the best I can as a man to follow Christ, and you can follow me, and imitate me." That's the life that wins.

  Let me ask you this, when it comes to those you love, your family, your friends, your coworkers, your aunts, your uncles, and anyone else you care for, can you look them in the eye and say, "Imitate me?" Could you stand before those people and say, "Just follow my example, and live the way I do"?

 Personally I want to be the kind of man who can stand before my children as they grow up, and say to my son and daughter, "You can just follow my example. You can just imitate me. Don't worry about what the world is telling you. Don't worry about what your friends are telling you, just imitate me." But if I don't live my life in a way that wins, I can't stand before my children and say that, or my wife, or my parents, or my grandparents, or my friends, or anybody else.

  Paul lived his life in such a holy, and pure, and amazing way that he could say with confidence, "Just imitate me. Live the way I live."  Here's the problem for us today. If we don't live our lives in a way that wins, people will probably never experience the gospel that saves or the God who seeks because we're all they see. If we come to church on Saturdays and Sundays and we act one way, and we go out into the world the rest of the week and we act another, if we come in here and we stuff all of our skeletons in the closet for an hour and ten minutes on Sunday or Saturday night, and then we go out and we let them all out all over the place the rest of the time, we have failed.

  God's method involves you. It involves your life, not an hour on Sunday. It involves 24 hours, seven days a week, your entire life and living it in a way that wins where other people can look at you and you can look at them and say, "Imitate me." If we don't live our lives in a way that wins, they will never experience the gospel that saves or the God who seeks.

  The fact is I am a believer today , not just because God sought me, and not just because the gospel saved me, but because there were people in my life that I could look at and I could imitate. I saw something in them I wanted. It wasn't until I saw that, that I gave the gospel and the God who seeks a chance.
All those times I turned away from the gospel, do you want to know why I did it? Because I looked at the people who were telling me about it, and I said, "Your life doesn't match up. You're telling me one thing over here, and then I see you act in another way over there. What do I want to be a part of that for? I'd rather just be true to who I am. I'd rather just be a pagan and be a good one. I'd rather just be the best heathen I can be, I guess. That's just the kind of person I am. Why do I want to act one way here and be another over there?"

  You see it wasn't until I encountered a man who acted one way and was one way everywhere he went and everywhere he went. I said, "There might be something to this God who seeks and this gospel that saves." We need to live lives that win. We take and have a great part in the method God uses. We're a part of it, and this is plan A, and it's the only plan. Let's be a part of it.  May we all excel in being the kinds of people who strive to live the life that wins.