1 Thessalonians 2:6

“nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ”

“Nor seeking glory of men”: The esteem, praise or applaud from men. “In this verse he denies the motive of ambition. as he denied the motive of covetousness in verse five” (Fields p. 58). “Hunger for compliments” (Stott p. 51). This is another temptation that preachers and teachers are faced with (John 5:41; John 12:42) “It is the preacher's, and the teacher's, constant danger that he should seek to display himself and not the message” (Barclay p. 221) (Luke 6:26).

“When we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ”: “Although as Christ's envoys we might have made our weight felt” (NEB). “Their aim had never been to seek human fame and this in spite of the fact that they were in. position to make weighty claims with respect to themselves, being Christ's apostles” (Hendriksen p. 64). Neither Silas nor Timothy were "apostles" even though Paul says "we". “Paul is either using the plural of authority like the royal ‘we' (saying 'we' but meaning 'I') or he is using the word ‘apostles' in its more general sense of ‘messengers', ‘missionaries', or ‘envoys'” (Stott p. 51). Although he will later mention it in 1 Thessalonians 2:9, the ‘claimed authority' in this verse could include the demand for financial support, which all three men did have the ‘right' to receive (1 Corinthians 9:1).