Every parent has fond memories of their children imitating them as they go about work. Whether it is mowing a lawn, shifting some dirt, vacuuming and tidying, or cooking, children love to imitate their parents. Sadly, our children also have a habit of imitating our less savoury and more sinful words and actions too. Whether good or bad, we often learn by imitating the example of others.
The Thessalonian Church was also known for their imitation. Paul commended them for their imitation of himself and Jesus, as a response to the powerful proclamation of God’s Word in their midst. Through their imitation, they became an example to other believers elsewhere. In that, they become an example to us of what it means to follow Christ, and an example and reputation to develop individually and as a congregation.
For Paul, the Thessalonians were a source of great encouragement. They were a demonstration of God’s power working through the Ministry of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and thus a source of thankfulness to Paul in the middle of difficult times.
But the Thessalonians were more than just an encouragement, they were imitators. They “became imitators of us and of the Lord” because they received the Gospel despite the affliction which non-believers (both Jew and Greek) inflicted on them (v.6). Just as Paul and his companions, and Jesus in his earthly ministry had faced rejection and affliction, so too the Thessalonians suffered for the name of God.
What was important about that affliction was not so much the presence of it, but how they reacted. They did not grumble and complain but experienced it “with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (v.6). Their difficult circumstances were met with Spirit empowered joy instead of grumbling, unlike say the Israelites wandering in the desert in Moses’ day.
Many of the Greco-Roman activities of the day were wrapped up in pagan religion and adoration verging on (and often becoming) outright Emperor worship. The Thessalonian Christians, worshiping the one and true living God and confessing only Jesus Christ as Lord, were cut off from society and rejected by “offended” friends and family because they refused to engage in the cultural norms of their day.
The imitation of Paul and Christ which the Thessalonians adopted was such that “you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia” (v.7). Word of the events in Thessalonica, their patient endurance, and their Spirit-filled joy spread like ripples in a pond throughout what is modern day Greece.
More than just endure though, the Thessalonians were busy spreading the Gospel even in difficult circumstances. “The word of the Lord sounded forth from you” (v.8) and apparently word had spread down the trade roads of how the Thessalonian Church was busy proclaiming the Gospel.
Their joyful endurance and their Gospel proclamation displayed their faith in God, word of which had traveled “everywhere, so that we need not say anything” (v.8). Imitators they were, but examples to other Christians in the region of their faith, hope, and love.
Other Christians were encouraged to hear of how they had held firm against the pressures of their day, and had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (v.9). They had made a radical and sustained break with their past, and the evil culture that surrounded them. Their lifestyle reflected a desire to live a Biblical approach to life that reflected the example of Paul and of Christ.
They were also a Christ-waiting Church. They looked forward to and waited for the arrival of God’s “Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (v.10). The Thessalonians were committed to Gospel proclamation and a Biblical lifestyle not for political reasons, but because they saw the final victory over sin and earthly opposition as coming when Jesus returned in glory to deliver them.
This example of imitation may have first floated down the highways and by-ways of the Roman Empire, but it has also floated down through time as an example to us. What a reputation to be known by! Forget riches. Never mind influence and power. Faithful servants of God.
What causes the Thessalonian Church to be singled out for praise is a desire to follow Jesus. Spirit-filled joy in difficult circumstances. Bold Gospel proclamation. Biblical patterns of lifestyle that leave behind the idols of the day. Patient expectation and hope of Christ’s victorious return.
Would it not be a fine reputation to have this as individuals and a congregation? As I read these words I want that to be true of my own life, and of us all.
What empowered this imitation of Paul and Christ, which boldly left behind the idols of this world, proclaimed the Gospel, and awaited Christ’s return in victory? The Holy Spirit. If we want the same imitation and devotion for our own lives and our own congregation, then we must turn to the Holy Spirit in dependence and request for that same power displayed in our lives.
