Our pastor just finished a study in First Thessalonians, and it has intrigued me to say the least. The Thessalonian church was created during Paul’s second missionary journey. We’re not told exactly how long Paul and his fellow workers stayed at Thessalonica, but he was there at least three weeks (Acts 17:1-2), and some commentators believe maybe five months. Whether three weeks, five months, or something in between, the truth is Paul was in Thessalonica for a fairly short time.
Some of their converts came from the synagogue, but most came from the Greek community (Acts. 17:3-4; 1 Thess. 1:9). So, there were some with a background in the Old Testament, but not many. Imagine the obstacles new converts needed to overcome. The Jews needed to learn to worship and share with gentiles, to worship on Sundays, that the dietary laws no longer applied except abstaining from blood and meat sacrificed to idols. The Greeks needed to give up sacrificing to their gods, to understand their new faith was directed at God for ending the discord between man and God. The Greeks previously saw worship as just the opposite. They were sacrificing to appease angry gods. Their new faith taught God loved them and welcomed them into His kingdom. Just overcoming those biases and prejudices must have taken some time.
So, Paul must have been quite a teacher. Can you imagine being one of the new Thessalonian converts? You faithfully attend Sunday morning and Wednesday night services for five months. Remember Paul and his friends worked “night and day” to support themselves (1 Thess. 2:9), so their teaching time was limited. Then they’re gone. It was not Paul’s policy to appoint recent converts to leadership roles either (1 Tim. 3:6). So, it would seem Paul left Thessalonica without appointing a pastor or elder.
You might expect the Thessalonian Christians had Paul’s epistles to other churches to help guide them. The problem is, though, that 1 Thessalonians was almost certainly Paul’s first epistle. So, there were no other epistles circulating through the churches except, perhaps, James which was written to the Jews who were driven from Jerusalem (James 1:1).
Timothy was sent back to Thessalonica some time after he and Paul had left, just to check on them and help fortify their faith, but other than that, they were left to fend for themselves.
I’m sure by now you’ve gotten the idea these guys were left without guidance, leadership, or teachings from an outside source. So, why didn’t the little church fold? Funny thing is, just the opposite happened. In Paul’s letter to them, they were heartily commended for their model of Christian purity and for their witness (1 Thess. 1:8).
I guess what I find so amazing is the work of the Holy Spirit in that little church. They grew both in number and in fame so that their practice of the gospel became well known in the region (1 Thess. 1:8), to the point that it drew persecution from the city’s population (1 Thess. 2:14).
God doesn’t leave us alone when we seek to know His truth and pursue His gospel. He doesn’t “teach us to swim to let us drown” as they say. I’m sure Jesus’ promise to be with us always was relied upon heavily and held closely again and again by the Christians in Thessalonica. It should ring true for us just as strongly today. We can rest assured we will never be left alone, never forsaken. God is with us.
I’ve told the story in an earlier blog of my friend Ed Sullivan who had been a Christian for just a week but knew enough to be saved and shared what he knew resulting in a woman coming to Christ. The Thessalonian church may have been like Ed, sharing what they knew.
I run into people as I’m sure you do who tell me they couldn’t share with others. They claim they don’t know enough. Like Ed, the Thessalonian church didn’t look at what they didn’t know but what they did know, then lived it and shared it. We could all take a lesson from that.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 