You Turned From Idols - 1 Thessalonians Series

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

My ancestors were idolaters. They made sacrifices and lived in fear. Everything they did was influenced by their fear of evil spirits. They were strongly motivated to make sacrifices to the spirits to protect themselves from all sorts of harm. History tells me that my ancestors were idolaters, but I grew up in a Christian home. In fact my ancestors in Sweden gave up idolatry about 1,000 years ago. So I know very little about idolatry from personal experience. 

But whenever I talk to a Christ-follower who has been delivered from idolatry, I pay attention.  Here is what a West-African Christian friend told me when I asked him what people in his village think about him. He said:

People who are unbelievers… They don’t know what makes us different. They know my life is different from their life. Some people think that where we are going is a wrong place. For example, in my village, people see us to be lost because we turned away from idols. So they’re waiting to see a problem. They are waiting to see if I will get into a big problem. A big one. They think that if I have a big problem I will go back and accept their gods. 

But God will not disappoint us. I was sick years back. They were waiting to see what I would do. My father said this, my grandfather said this, “We will pour libation for you.” I said “No, no.” They said, “Well, you will die.” So many people said I would die, but if I would accept the gods I would not die. So I said, “So be it. If I die I die for God, I die for Christ. If God wants me to die, I will die. But if Christ does not want me to die, you will see I will not die.”

 My pastor would come and pray for me and go. And I was there and after two hours my sickness was completely gone. Jesus Christ healed me. He healed me. So they were shocked. My father said, “You are very stubborn.” I said, “I’m not stubborn. But I have someone who can take care of me. I have someone who is greater. Bigger.”

I love Jesus because I feel peace in the eyes of God. I feel peace, so to go back and serve these idols? No no no no no. It’s better that I die.”

What a wonderful, God-honoring story!

When Paul went to plant a church in Thessalonica, almost everyone there was an idolater.  But just like my West African friend, when they met Christ, everything changed.  Yes, there were still struggles, but everything changed. Jesus set them free. Their lives changed so much that everyone around them told how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

So here is my word of encouragement for you. If you, or your parents or your grandparents were idolaters, but Jesus has set you free from idolatry, free from pouring libations and making sacrifices, tell your story. Tell what is was like to live in bondage to idols and to evil spirits. Tell about the torment and the fear. But most of all, tell about the power of Christ to deliver and transform lives. Tell your story so others can take the step you or your parents or your grandparents took to turn from dead idols to the living Christ. Tell your story as an act of worship to the living God who delivers us from fear and makes us his beloved son or daughter. Tell your story so others know, in concrete terms, what God has done for you and your family. Choose the time, choose whom you will tell. Let the Holy Spirit lead you. But tell your family’s story of deliverance from idolatry and tell it well.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today? 1T-12

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