For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. 1 Thessalonians 1:8
I recall one lovely clear summer morning when I stood as a lad behind our home and caught the faint sound of a far-off train whistle. But there are no trains in West New Annan, and never were. That train was at least 15 kilometers away, on the line running through Wentworth Valley. But somehow the atmospheric conditions were right that morning for that sound to be carried and echoed along the Cobequid Mountain range and to be audible at our home in West New Annan. That was very impressive! But I heard that sound only once in all the time I lived there. How very different the sound of the word of the Lord that came from the Christians at Thessalonika.
As our text indicates, Paul was impressed. And he had good reason to be. The testimony of the Christians in Thessalonika had spread far and wide, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia. This was a region larger than even modern Greece today. Thessalonika was perhaps the major city in Macedonia, while Athens and Corinth were the major centres in Achaia. And in all this region, the news that there was an Assembly of Christians in Thessalonika was common knowledge. Anyone interested in hearing the Gospel knew where to go, and any Christians looking for fellowship did too. These were saints who had a vibrant faith that they shared with everyone all around them, and the word spread. This was an Assembly where faith – active faith – made a difference. Would this approach work for our Assemblies today?
The Christians back in the day when Paul wrote this epistle did not have Gospel Halls. But if they had, there would have never been any effort to remove the word Gospel from the front of the building, as has happened among some Assemblies today. No, these folks gladly shared the Gospel and were joyfully willing to be identified with the Gospel. They would have gladly quoted Romans 1:16: ‘For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek’. We are not told how or where they conducted their Gospel meetings, but we can be sure that some of them would have been in the streets and market places. We don’t see much of that today; maybe that has something to do with so few people knowing about us. We also know that these folks actively witnessed to their friends, neighbours, and community members. How are we doing in that department these days? No doubt the Thessalonian Christians experienced some hostility and rejection, but everybody knew about them! There are some very good lessons we could learn from those folks in the Thessalonika Assembly.
We might not be nearly as comfortable if we adopted the vibrant style of the Thessalonians in our witness for Christ, but maybe we would see more results. -Jim MacIntosh