Thessalonica was the capitol city of Macedonia in Paul’s time. On Paul’s second missionary journey, he visited the city with Timothy and Silvanus (aka Silas. It’s remarkable how many people had multiple names or name forms that they answered to!). There was a population of Jews there, and they had a synagogue (the Greek word we translate synagogue literally means, “a gathering place”) where they heard the Word read and proclaimed to them.
As was Paul’s way in many of the towns he visited, he found the synagogue and, being a Pharisee, looked for the opportunity to preach and teach there. Acts 17 tells us that at three Sabbath gatherings Paul preached, reasoning with them from the Scriptures to show them that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead and telling them that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for! Some of them believed, and many of non-Jewish people came to faith as well. But this evangelistic opportunity was to be short lived because, as the Jewish leaders saw what was happening, they became jealous and they formed a mob and started an uproar in the city. Some of the new Christians were dragged before the city authorities, and Paul and Silas had to sneak away at night, while Timothy courageously stayed behind to continue teaching, quietly establishing the church.
Just as Paul was seeing this new group of believers coming together he was driven away by persecution. How hard that must have been! He didn’t have time to teach them. He didn’t have time to equip them. Timothy was just a kid himself, and now he had to do the work Paul would normally do! He had to leave his new friends to face a hostile environment, and he could do little but pray and write to them.
One of the things that we can learn from Thessalonians is that God’s plan for growing his kingdom is different than our plan. By many outward signs the mission to Thessalonica was a failure. They were driven out. But God had His hand on this. He used Paul to proclaim the Word to them, but it was not God’s will to use Paul to teach them. God will often use different people to accomplish growth in different stages in people’s lives and in the life of His church. Think for a moment how much impact this must have had on Timothy and his future ministry!
We must begin to measure success a little differently. A prayerful study of what happened in Thessalonica will show that, while there were not great numbers and the church was small, God was indeed at work among them. So much so that the church there became an example to the whole region because in the face of affliction they had joy in the Lord; in the midst of persecution they turned to the living God; in the midst of turmoil they waited for Jesus.
What looks like failure to us is sometimes a piece of a much larger picture – a picture that God is drawing – and that “failure” may just be the important piece that one day brings it all together in a person’s life to call them faith or deepen their trust. Growth in the church is not merely seeing more people in the pews, as nice as that is. Growth is also deepening in our relationship with Jesus, learning to depend on Him radically, having our whole worldview changed so that it wraps around His, and living in a way that displays that we’ve been loved, saved, and forgiven.
Father in Heaven, help me to grow so that my faith in Jesus and the way I live my life will be an example to the people around me of the difference You make in people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
As was Paul’s way in many of the towns he visited, he found the synagogue and, being a Pharisee, looked for the opportunity to preach and teach there. Acts 17 tells us that at three Sabbath gatherings Paul preached, reasoning with them from the Scriptures to show them that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead and telling them that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for! Some of them believed, and many of non-Jewish people came to faith as well. But this evangelistic opportunity was to be short lived because, as the Jewish leaders saw what was happening, they became jealous and they formed a mob and started an uproar in the city. Some of the new Christians were dragged before the city authorities, and Paul and Silas had to sneak away at night, while Timothy courageously stayed behind to continue teaching, quietly establishing the church.
Just as Paul was seeing this new group of believers coming together he was driven away by persecution. How hard that must have been! He didn’t have time to teach them. He didn’t have time to equip them. Timothy was just a kid himself, and now he had to do the work Paul would normally do! He had to leave his new friends to face a hostile environment, and he could do little but pray and write to them.
One of the things that we can learn from Thessalonians is that God’s plan for growing his kingdom is different than our plan. By many outward signs the mission to Thessalonica was a failure. They were driven out. But God had His hand on this. He used Paul to proclaim the Word to them, but it was not God’s will to use Paul to teach them. God will often use different people to accomplish growth in different stages in people’s lives and in the life of His church. Think for a moment how much impact this must have had on Timothy and his future ministry!
We must begin to measure success a little differently. A prayerful study of what happened in Thessalonica will show that, while there were not great numbers and the church was small, God was indeed at work among them. So much so that the church there became an example to the whole region because in the face of affliction they had joy in the Lord; in the midst of persecution they turned to the living God; in the midst of turmoil they waited for Jesus.
What looks like failure to us is sometimes a piece of a much larger picture – a picture that God is drawing – and that “failure” may just be the important piece that one day brings it all together in a person’s life to call them faith or deepen their trust. Growth in the church is not merely seeing more people in the pews, as nice as that is. Growth is also deepening in our relationship with Jesus, learning to depend on Him radically, having our whole worldview changed so that it wraps around His, and living in a way that displays that we’ve been loved, saved, and forgiven.
Father in Heaven, help me to grow so that my faith in Jesus and the way I live my life will be an example to the people around me of the difference You make in people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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