Read with Me
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (HCSB)
Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, so that no one will be shaken by these persecutions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. In fact, when we were with you, we told you previously that we were going to suffer persecution, and as you know, it happened. For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.
Listen with Me
Paul had been very concerned about the welfare of the Thessalonian believers ever since he had been forced to leave the city under cover of darkness. And then when the Thessalonian Jews followed him to Berea, causing him to have to retreat even further south to Athens (Act 17:13-15), he worried even more. If they were willing to chase him down to Berea to stop the spread of Christianity, what would they be willing to do to the new believers in Thessalonica itself.
So, when the decision was made to head further south, Paul sent Silas and Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on them, even though it meant that he would have to travel on without their help for a time. And, when he got to Athens, he sent word back to Thessalonica, letting them know where he had ended up, and instructing them to join him as soon as possible.
Paul had told the Thessalonian believers that persecution wasn’t going to be to be something rare and strange for them, but that it would be the norm. He himself had suffered much for the cause of Christ since he had surrendered to Jesus, and he considered it to be the norm for anyone determined to be light in dark places and unwilling to simply bend to societal norms and to calls to stay quiet.
But it is one thing to be told that persecution is possible, even likely, and quite another thing when persecution actually arrives. And he worried that some or many of them had been turned away from Jesus.
Paul knew that Timothy, even though he was fairly new to the work of evangelism and discipleship, had a heart for people, and an encouraging manner that would help these new believers to gain courage and stand firm both then and in the future. Paul knew that they were in the best possible hands, but he waited anxiously to hear as he worked in Athens, and then when he moved further west to Corinth, still having heard nothing.
Pray with Me
Father, Paul really did have a shepherd’s heart that cared deeply for his “spiritual children” (1 Corinthians 4:14-15, Galatians 4:19-20). As such, he never sugar-coated the truth of the gospel and the cost of following Jesus any more than Jesus Himself did (Luke 14:25-33). So, these new believers were equipped so that they wouldn’t be blindsided by the persecution when it did come against them. I know that many today soft pedal the cost of following Jesus so as not to scare people away. But then, when the cost is finally explained, or when the Christian life turns out to be costly and even dangerous, these new believers feel that they have been made victims of a bait and switch. And they have! And the cost to their souls is often high. Lord, help me to be like Paul, like Jesus Himself, and always be up front about the cost of following Jesus as well as the benefits. Amen.