Imitators of God's Churches - 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.

None of us likes to suffer. None of us seeks pain.  But suffering is a part of life on this earth. While we can never call suffering good, we recognize that good things can result from suffering.  The classic example that shows that good can come from suffering are the pains of childbirth that a mother suffers.  I have seen and heard that pain. It is intense, excruciating, and overwhelming.  But the beauty of a new life that comes into the world through its mother’s pain is proof positive that good can come from suffering.

The first century church planter, Paul of Tarsus, was well acquainted with suffering. He told the Corinthians, “I have been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.  Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” 

Just before Paul planted the church at Thessalonica, he had been imprisoned for his faith in Philippi. When he and Silas got to Thessalonica to start the work there, things were pretty peaceful… at first.  But it didn’t take long for persecution to set in. Religious leaders in Thessalonica were jealous of Paul and Silas, because many people began to follow their teachings about Christ. They couldn’t find Paul and Silas to beat them, so they beat Paul’s friend Jason, a new follower of Christ.

Paul remembered this suffering when he wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians.  He said, “For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews.”  You can tell that Paul was proud of the Thessalonian believers.  He was proud of the way they weathered persecution and kept their faith in Christ. He had come to understand that persecution is very normal for new churches. The Jews in Judea persecuted the church at Jerusalem, and every church Paul planted seemed to have some sort of persecution associated with it.

We don’t like persecution and we often pray that God would spare us from being persecuted.  But we need to prepare new believers for persecution. Persecution of new believers is very common. The churches I started in Ecuador faced persecution time and again. Believers were beaten, chased, stoned and insulted. But God gave grace and the churches grew in favor with God and men.  I hate to say it, but persecution is normal for new churches.  That’s why as church planters, we need to prepare new believers to expect persecution, to trust God during persecution, and to follow the example of Christ who chose to bless when he was cursed. Jesus chose to pray for his persecutors saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 

I encourage you to trust God to protect you and strengthen you in the face of persecution. Help your disciples know that they too may be persecuted but that Jesus will never leave them or forsake them.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this word with today?

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