What evidence does your life show to the people around you about your beliefs? If you are a follower of Jesus, do your life actions reveal that? What evidence should a follower of Jesus be showing?
This week we’ve been studying 1st Thessalonians 1:4–10, and Paul concludes by describing the evidence that he saw and heard about the Christians in Thessalonica.
Paul writes that he knows that the Thessalonian Christians imitated him and lived for the sake of others. How does he know? What he says are the first two of the five pieces of evidence.
Evidence #1 – Joy in Suffering. The first is in verses 6-7. Paul knows the Thessalonian Christians were genuine because of their response to the Gospel. They welcomed it, he said, even when they were suffering. They had joy in the midst of suffering. Something deep inside them had changed. The Holy Spirit was in them.
I am curious, though…how were the Thessalonian Christians suffering? Paul doesn’t describe the suffering specifically. He certainly suffered in Thessalonica when the anti-Christian Jews started a riot and tried to capture him, and he had to leave the city under cover of night, fleeing for his life. In Acts 17 we read that when the anti-Christian mob came for Paul, they seized a guy named Jason and dragged him out of his house to the public square. It is highly possible, therefore, that the Christians who remained in the city faced pressure from those same people.
Could you imagine what that would feel like, to face bodily persecution just because you are a Christian? We American Christians don’t know what it would feel like, and we wonder if we would remain faithful to Jesus if we were be threatened with bodily harm. What is amazing, then, is that Paul says the Thessalonian Christians handled their suffering with joy from the Spirit. Joy in the midst of suffering. I wonder if Paul witnessed with his own eyes the Thessalonian Christians expressing joy in suffering before he left the city.
Evidence #2 – Reputation of Being a Model of Jesus. The second way he knows that the Thessalonian Christians were imitators of Paul and of God is what we read in verses 7-8, and this one Paul did not see with his own eyes. The Thessalonian Christians had a reputation. Though Paul was far away in Corinth, he heard that the Thessalonian Christians were faithfully proclaiming God’s message.
I also want to point out one phrase in verse 7, “You became a model”. Previously Paul said that the Thessalonian Christians were imitators. Now he says they are the model. Is Paul contradicting himself? No, I think he is pointing out a progression.
Here’s the progression: Jesus lives a particular way. Jesus’ followers, including Paul, imitate Jesus. Next the Thessalonians imitate Paul, who is imitating the way of Jesus. Thus, the Thessalonians are now imitating the way of Jesus. When Paul leaves them, the Thessalonians are still imitating the way of Jesus. Then the progression extends to the next level when the believers in Macedonia and Achaia imitate the way of Jesus because of the model set by the Thessalonians.
Here’s a summary of the progression: from Jesus to Paul to the Thessalonians to the other believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
You know what that progressive imitation is called? Discipleship. We follow in the footsteps of someone else who has learned to live the way of Jesus. We learn to live the way of Jesus. Then we help someone else do likewise.
Paul is elated about the clear evidence he sees and hears about, that the Thessalonian Christians are following Jesus. In verses 8-9, Paul writes [my paraphrase], “The word is out! You Thessalonians have established a reputation for clearly being Jesus followers!” What reputation? In verse 10, Paul presents three more pieces of evidence that the Thessalonian believers are living faithful lives of discipleship to Jesus.
Evidence #3 – Turning from Idols. In the Greco-Roman world idolatry was very literal. Of course Greeks and Romans didn’t see it as idolatry. The Greco-Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses was a regular part of their culture. People could worship and sacrifice to idols in temples in nearly every city and town across the empire. That said, few from a Jewish background would have worshiped idols, as idolatry is condemned in the Mosaic Law. But for those Greeks, Romans, and Jews who might have worshiped idols, Paul says that when they became followers of Jesus, they turned away from the Greco-Roman pantheon. They went against the grain of their culture. Going against the grain of our culture and society can be very difficult. Are there ways that God calls us to go against our culture?
Evidence #4 – Serving God. Paul says that the Thessalonian Christians turned from idols to serve God. God calls all of us to view ourselves as serving the mission of his kingdom. The mission of his Kingdom involves numerous tasks, of course. One important task in the mission is to help people who are not currently following Jesus to become followers of Jesus, because Jesus taught that living as his follower is the best way to live. By encouraging people to follow the way of Jesus, we have their best interest in mind. Are you helping people who are not currently followers of Jesus become followers of Jesus?
Who in your life is not currently a follower of Jesus? What could you do to help them? Introducing them to Jesus is one way we serve God.
Evidence #5 – They Waited for Jesus’ Return. The early church believed that Jesus was going to return in their lifetime. That was 2000 years ago. We don’t know when he will return. Jesus taught his disciples that his return could happen at any time, so we should be ready at any time. We show that we are ready by pursuing the mission of the kingdom.
We proclaim what Paul proclaims in verse 10: “Jesus is risen, and in Jesus there is hope of new life. We don’t have to fear the future, no matter what the future holds, because in Jesus there is hope. ”
Evaluate the evidence in your life? Are the five pieces of evidence evident by your actions? Ask someone who knows you well, who spends a lot of time with you, who can speak the truth in love to you, what evidence they see.
Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 