Paul’s Missionary Approach To the Thessalonicans
Coming to Thessalonica, Paul and Silas were able to preach in the synagogue for only three weeks with outstanding success despite incredible opposition. Quickly, the Jews incited a riot against the missionaries and their host, Jason. (Acts 17:1-9)
Quote:I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field.
John Wesley.
The Jews falsely charged them with turning the world upside down and disturbing the peace. But, since this was Paul’s second missionary journey he was prepared for a wise response to persecution. Since, he knew that Thessalonica was the capital city of Macedonia, his work would not be in vain among the few converts that turned from idols to serve a living and TRUE God. Paul strategically sought to plant a church in this wealthy port city where the influence of the gospel would quickly spread throughout the region.
Paul wisely used the art and science of prioritizing his ministry launching pads. Thessalonica was a multi-racial, mixed culture that was accustomed to being open to receive all kinds of religious beliefs. Paul used this receptivity as a beginning to penetrate the whole of the Greek part of the Roman empire.
The church that Paul writes this letter gives us a great deal of encouragement about the promising potentials of a small seed of indigenous committed believers. Most of the converts were Gentiles converted from paganism that they had grown up with through the sacrifices offered on nearby Mount Olympus. Showing remarkable strength for the opposition that they faced from the Jews, the pagans, as well as from the devil, these believers were assured by Paul of proper follow-up through Pastor Timothy.
Illustration:The Greek word for fellowship comes from a root meaning common or shared. So fellowship means common participation in something either by giving what you have to the other person or receiving what he or she has. Give and take is the essence of fellowship, and give and take must be the way of fellowship in the common life of the body of Christ.
Christian fellowship is two-dimensional, and it has to be vertical before it can be horizontal. We must know the reality of fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ before we can know the reality of fellowship with each other in our common relationship to God (1 John 1:3). The person who is not in fellowship with the Father and the Son is no Christian at all, and so cannot share with Christians the realities of their fellowship.
Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
Paul knew that there must be continual efforts for the preservation of spiritual fruit early in the development stages of church growth. It is little wonder why he expressed such sentiments as a "Mother tenderly caring for her own children, I was well pleased to impart to you not the gospel only, but also my own life, for you were very dear to me!" (I Thes. 2:7-9) Without this concerted effort to nurture the young flock of God, many churches die in infancy.
Paul writes this letter to see how the new believers and church were progressing. Church planters and missionaries go beyond just giving birth to their fellowships. They are genuinely concerned about assisting the new believers in ways that they can grow up into all aspects into Christ. Too many missionaries, evangelists, and preachers seem content to allow their spiritual fruits to die on the vine. Paul, sincerely feared that unless the believers were given the shepherding of a Pastor, that his labor might be in vain.
Now that Timothy had brought encouraging news, he wanted to express satisfaction and to spur them on to increase in their faith, love, and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Since this was one of the earliest of Paul’s letters, this gives us a special clue in the way that Paul set precedents in his missionary-church planting ministry.
The letter is essentially a follow-up letter that spares the new believers from a heavy treatise on Christian doctrine. Paul knew that the Thessalonicans were not quite ready for meat, so he concentrated on answering some of their crucial questions. Paul wants to provide the Thessalonicans with every possible incentive to continue in the faith as they develop their church in the midst of opposition.
Paul knew that the Thessalonicans must be given goals for their service, worship, fellowship, and teaching or they would quickly return to their former way of life. In Chapter 2:1-12 Paul seeks to defend himself against several false accusations that might jeopardize the credibility of his teaching. Missionaries must be skilled apologetists to preserve their trustworthiness.
In Chapter 4:1-12, Paul tried to put emphasis to the need for a distinctive morality that reflected the person of Jesus Christ. Missionaries need to provide their converts with a healthy sense of the ethics and standards that are uniquely based in Christ and the scriptures. Any other type of morality is humanly based on philosophies that cannot possibly stand the tests of trials and time. Paul also wanted to correct false beliefs about the second coming of Christ that had crept into the fellowship causing severe distortions of His promises. Missionaries show wisdom when they are able to help their converts separate out the essentials from the non-essentials of scriptural truth.
The aspects of future events are areas that are best left with ivory tower theologians to wrestle with as the church planter needs to concentrate on being an example to the believers in word, deed, and worship. Paul concentrated on providing practical guidelines for the new church. He gave the Thessalonicans the needed discipline for alleged immoral practices among the youth.
Missionaries try to work through the culture of the people as much as is possible. In Thessalonica, Paul recognized the wave of immorality could easily undermine all of the purity found in the truth. He cautions the believers to live a life pleasing to God by writing, "It is God’s will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no-one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him." (I Thes. 4:3-5)
Paul expected the believers to realize the lust of the flesh wars against the soul and spirit. The normal practice of the Thessalonican community must be shunned even at the costs of friendships among family and neighbors, Paul stresses. These are some of the most difficult lessons for missionaries as they seek to develop a pure fellowship of believers that agree to be accountable to one another.
Paul knew the importance of believer’s fellowship that could replace the unwholesome commarderie that existed in unbeliever’s circles. Without a missionaries’ success in this area of establishing a new community of self-regulating fellowship in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, the new church has little chance of succeeding. The Thessalonicans obviously tried, but ultimately failed to continue as there is no visible Christian witness in that town today.
Paul expresses several key aims for new believers in his letter to the Thessalonicans that is worth noting for church planting missionaries today:
1. Paul sought to provide support for the believers who were facing persecution, opposition, and misunderstanding from within and without. Missionaries need to pay visits to their converts frequently to nurture them through those critical years of growth through the instabilities of infancy. Most young church that fail do so within the first year of their conceptions.
2. Paul sought to establish Godly guidelines for the way that the believers related to God, to fellow Christians, and to the world. Missionaries that build lasting churches need to learn culturally contextualized skills in providing instruction in these critical areas. Unfortunately, most missionaries are only good at teaching the converts how to relate to God, but are poor in the areas of providing help in developing Christian unity or interpersonal skills with non-Christians. Finding a contemporary model of a balanced approach to Christian missions is hard to find today. However, Paul provided one for the Thessalonicans in this letter. We should restudy his balanced approach.
3. Paul sensed that it was easy for some of the new believers to get caught up in the excitement of their new faith while forgetting their major responsibilities. This tended to produce a group of believers who did not want to work while they waited for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Missionaries must seek to avoid extremes of all types. It is easy for any innovations to become occultic in its manifestations. Paul told the Thessalonicans some common sense that applied to some of these extremists when he said, "If anyone will not work, he should not be allowed to eat." Good advise from a man who recognized how to be in the world, yet not be a part of it.
4. Paul wanted to provide and reinforce the example that he had provided for the Thessalonicans. We all need godly examples to encourage, edify and enlighten us. Most young believers are only able to learn through the examples of their teachers. They need to see, hear, and personally interact with their mentors. Do not rely very much on literature, media, or other types of impersonal communications while training up new believers. Paul’s example was seen in his faith, love, hope, hard work, joy in suffering, his intimate relationship with God, his willingness to sacrifice his own life, his gentleness, his desire to please God more than men, his courage in the midst of great opposition, his eager ambition to see the kingdom of God expand into Macedonia - a whole new culture for this former Jewish Pharisee, endurance under persecution, team work through Silas and Timothy, ability to communicate cross-culturally to the Greek Gentiles, and his ability to solve real problems.
The new converts need a great amount of personal attention. Paul realized that he needed to take on a motherly and fatherly role with the new believers for them to gain a good spiritual foundation. The progress and growth of any new fellowship is directly related to the missionaries ability to personalize his ministry with the key disciples that will be able to teach others also. A generous use of a seed family concept works best in church planting ministries as Paul first discovered in the house of Jason within Thessalonica.
5. Paul provided a foundation of prayer for the new church. He taught them to pray with faith in a God that could work miracles, but expected practical demonstrations of their faith and obedience. Paul began with thanksgiving for the Thessalonicans work produced by faith, their labor prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many missionaries somehow forget that greater effects are made through affirming that through criticizing. As missionaries get along in their ministries, many become sullen, disgruntled, and bitter. Paul resisted this temptations by thanking God and the converts for their outstanding progress, however small it might have been.
Missionaries can take a really tip from Paul in the way that he lauded his converts for their sincere efforts as well as their faith, hope, and love. Paul’s prayers also included a real desire to be reunited with his converts.
Many missionaries seemed to treat their church planting like a one time bombing run. They are willing to endure the flack from ground assaults for a while, but hesistate to go in for long consolidation ministries. Although Paul was not able to re-visit the Thessalonicans, he sent Timothy to preserve the fruits of his initial seed sowing ministry. Paul also prayed that their love would increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else. Without the love of God showing visibily in the church, the attraction of Christianity quickly lessens.
Paul prayed that the new converts hearts would be blameless and holy in the presence of God, the Father when Christ returns. Paul wanted to implant the idea of Christ’s imminent return to reinforce the urgency of accountability. Without the Godly - Spirit inspired conscience in the charter members of the church, the fellowship stands little chance of growing into a healthy body of believers.
Finally, Paul prayed, "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you will be faithful and he will do it. Brothers, pray for us." (I Thes. 5:23-25)
The reference to the God of peace is an indication of how important it is for new converts to see God as a new source of solutions for their problems. His peace, love, hope, and grace are sources that transcend all human explanations. Paul wants all new fellowships to learn to confidently rely on the things above and not on things on the earth.
6. Paul points his converts to a lifestyle that is worthy of the Lord in all aspects. Many new converts have a difficult time making the transition in their perceptions to living for Jesus instead of for themselves or their friends. Conditioned to live a life that is respected in their society, many young fellowships are easily turned into a "spiritualized town meeting or club".
Failure to make the transition in people’s views of reality, truth, beliefs, values, behaviors, and emotions is an indication that people have not properly made a switch in their primary allegiances. Paul pointed his converts to commit themselves to the hope that is found in the Lord Jesus.
Many new converts should not be overwhelmed with intellectual teachings from the scriptures in the initial stages of their growth. Instead, Paul showed us how to help new believers study the life of Jesus, His words, His works, and His loving interactions with people. Let us put much more emphasis on the person of Christ than on cold doctrine. Let people learn how to fall in love with the Lord as Paul did with the Thessalonicans. Eventually, the Spirit of God will give them a greater desire to study the dogmatic aspects of the Christian life.
7. Paul wanted his new converts to equally know the Father of law, the Son of love, and the Spirit of liberty. He knew that a good beginning of any relationship was built on trust, love and knowledge. Therefore, Paul did not spend a lot of time discussing the mechanical aspects of worshipping God, but focused on knowing the one from whom all blessing flow. Notice how Paul writes about the call of God (1:4,2:12; 4:7); the reliability of the word of God (1:6,8; 2:13; 4:15); how to gain the approval of God (2:4); the testing of God (2:4); the wrath of God (2:16); the will of God (4:3; 5:18), the teaching of God (4:9), the peace of God (5:23) and the faithfulness of God (5:24).
By giving the new converts a full panorama of God, His will, and ways, the Thessalonicans were taught to focus on a relationship before anything else. So often, missionaries and church planters tend to hurry their converts through baptism classes, witnessing programs, or membership classes before making sure that they are solidly rooted in Christ. Paul knew that gaining a new position, status, or title in the church would not ultimately help unless a person was in good relationship with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
8. Paul wanted to dispel the false notions about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Many of the converts were deluded into thinking that since Christ would return quickly that they did not have to work. As a result, the converts were giving Christianity a bad reputation throughout the city. The word on the street was, Christians are lazy, naive, and fatalistic. Paul corrected this wrong perception by helping the Thessalonicans know that Christ’s return should be eagerly awaited, but that Christ’s return should serve several key purposes:
a). It should inspire young Christians to hope in His deliverance from this evil age.(1:10)
b). Christ’s imminent return should stimulate Christian to work wholeheartedly to the Lord and not by human standards. (2:19)
c). Christ’s return should be an extra incentive to love so that He finds us in good relations with our brothers and sisters. (3:13)
d). Christ’s return should be a comfort to the bereaved Christians so that they will know they will soon be reunited with their believing relatives. (4:18)
e). Christ’s return is a extra incentive for everyone to live Godly so that one will not be ashamed at His coming. (5:23)
9. Paul outlines the growth processes of a believer giving the Thessalonicans ideas of the rites of passage necessary to grow in Christ. The urban areas of Macedonia were heavily influenced by the need for progressive thinking. Knowing this fixation on the future, Paul writes to the Thessalonians about Christian maturity begins afresh everyday with key decisions about turning away from idols to serve a living and true God. (1:9-10)
Paul expected the Thessalonicans to involve themselves in the processes and purposes of Christ to experience His blessings. Paul reminds the Thessalonicans that they have witnessed his holy, righteous, and blameless lifestyles so that they will have no excuses for failing to emulate him. Through his loving exhortations, he expected the converts to accept his teachings not as mere words of men, but the word of God, which is working in them. Paul expected his converts to be examples of the Lord to all the churches within their proximity.
He wanted the young believers to know that persecutions, misunderstandings, and oppositions would be a normal part of the maturing process of a Christian. He reminds the converts that the wrath of God will quickly come on their persecutors.
10. Paul wanted the believers to learn how to walk, trust, and be led by the Holy Spirit. Often this is one of the most divisive areas of Christianity since the Spirit’s leading is understood in so many different ways. However, since Paul was forced out of the city in less than three weeks, the Spirit of God quickly became the chief source of inspiration, instruction, and persuasion for the young believers in Thessalonica.
Paul writes in 4:7,8, For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." Paul wanted the believers to shift their focus away from pleasing men to pleasing their heavenly Father. He knew that the Spirit of God was fully capable of nurturing, convicting, and sanctifying the believers in all ways. Too many missionaries become paternalistic toward their converts. This tends to foster an unhealthy dependence on the missionary-Pastor. The Holy Spirit is the one who each individual and group should learn to put their trust in through prayer and study of the scriptures. Paul knew the reality of the Spirit’s leading in his own life and he wanted the Thessalonicans to enjoy the same benefits.
11. Paul wanted the new believers to have new guidelines for their social behavior. Many converts have a difficult time making the transitions to Christian social ethics. Paul sensed that the Thessalonicans had become accustomed to sexual immorality, selfishness, and suspicion of one another that would eventually divide the church. He wanted to integrate a new social ethic in the believers without destroying their basic culture. Therefore, Paul put emphasis on healthy brotherly love in ways that would mean pure, wholesome, and edifying cooperations.
Paul knew that the unbelievers would gauge the legitimacy of their Christianity by their social behaviors. Many missionaries have found out the hard way that their converts social interactions can either act as a magnet or like a repellant to the community. If the social interactions are filled with joy, peace, and blessings, many community members are eager to associate with the Christian fellowships.
Paul wanted the Thessalonican fellowship to function like a magnet with their singing, honesty, purity, faith, love, and most of all hope. Since many of the Greeks lived in a hopeless world, the aspect of having a solid hope in a coming Savior proved to be particularly attractive. Paul wanted the Thessalonicans’ social behavior to be the advertisement for the whole of Macedonia to be attracted through.
12. Paul combined his instruction, with inspiration, persuasion, and applicational suggestions for improvement in the Thessalonican fellowship. It may seem a little strange that Paul would be so bold as to make such courageous suggestions about the most important areas of their Christian experiences after such a brief acquaintance. However, it is important to realize that the depth of one’s influence is not a matter of time, but of quality of relationship. Therefore, Paul was able to exhort the new believers to build one another up in the faith. Apparently, the new believers needed to give more respect, honor, and appreciation to their leaders, so Paul admonished them to humble themselves before their church elders. This is a critical aspect in building a new church since the local leadership must receive a certain amount of respect for the fellowship to thrive.
Paul realized that the Greeks had a difficult time submitting to authority since they were very individualistic in their cultural orientations. For this reason Paul writes in 5:13, "Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another." All believers, but especially young believers need to learn how to submit themselves and be clothed with humility before Godly elders. God has a way of resisting the proud, but giving grace to the humble. Without this sense of respect for authority, no fellowship can survive. Throughout the history of missions we see many examples of young fellowships that splinter into many tiny prayer groups because they cannot agree on whose local leadership they will submit to.
Paul knew that the elders that he had appointed in Thessalonica were men of good reputation, but he also qualifies good leaders as those who work in the Lord, teach well, and do the work of an evangelist. Paul knew that most new movements tend to rise or fall on the basis of their leaders.
13. Paul gives the young believers of Thessalonica an idea of how to respond to trying circumstances in 5:16-18 when he writes, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
In Everything Give Thanks - Thankfulness is the fruit of a life that is right with God. When a person is thankful in attitude, actions, and outlook, one is able to attract many to the Savior through this effervescent spring of joy.
Pray Without Ceasing - There is power in individual and group prayer that knows how to Adore God, Confess our sins, Thank Him for everything, and Seek His intercessory help in solving problems.
Rejoice Always - There is power in praising God for the good we can see and cannot see.
Paul wanted the believers to realized that Christian joy is not dependent on positive circumstances. Believers are not to be happy only when everything is going their way. The Thessalonicans were taught to be joyful in Christ because of what they had become through Him. Through Him there was every reason in the world to rejoice because of the benefits they received at the time of their salvation.
In Christ, the Thessalonicans had an unfading hope for a better tomorrow. Weaning new believers off of dependence on their circumstances, cultures, and contexts is one of the most difficult assignments of a missionary. Paul knew that this could best be done by seeing and responding to God’s answers to prayer. Many a successful missionary has done this by forming effective seed prayer fellowship that help the new converts to realize the power of God to answer the most difficult of prayers.
Illustration: One missionary in Argentina starts "Light house" prayer fellowships for the entire neighborhood. When the people hear about miraculous answers to their prayers, Christians and non-Christians alike flock to their fellowships as they are eager to see their own problems solved. Prayer has a way of reconciling people who have hard feelings toward one another as well. Prayer is also a preventative antidote toward many evils of the flesh, the world, and the devil. A new church planter should learn that prayer is not just a convienence, but a necessity in his planting and growing of churches.
Finally, Paul wanted the Thessalonicans to learn how to be thankful for the little and big things in their lives. By learning how to praise and thank God for the good and bad in their lives, the new believers were taught to see God working all things together for good for those who loved Him and were called according to His purposes.
14. Paul gives one of the most balanced goal statements in the whole of the New Testament in 5:14 when he says, "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone." The Thessalonicans were struggling with the problems of idleness, timidity, immaturity, and impatience. Paul gave a perfect formula for the counselling of people with the following balanced process.
Paul knew that there are times in everyones’ life when they feel lazy, shy, or disabled. In addition, Paul knew that baby Christians need a great deal of patience before they are able to stand on their own feet and reproduce themselves into the lives of others. Within this admonishment are four corners of the compass in the aspects of relating to all believers.
Warn the Idle - Give people a clear idea of the consequences of laziness. Do not passively accept indolence, sloppy work, or indifferent attitudes toward the work of God. Help people to strive for excellence
Encourage the Timid - Help to motivate the shy, fearful, and inhibited with the strength of the Lord and the power of His might. Help the reticent to realize that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and discipline.
Help The Weak - Bear the burdens of those who are struggling to withstand the pressures, tensions, and responsibilities that are too heavy to carry by themselves. Everyone goes through times when they must be supported, financed, or assisted so as to show that Christians care during the good times as well as the bad.
Be Patient With Everyone - The first and most important dimension of love is patience. Being willing to listen to people is one of the chief ways that Paul wanted the Thessalonicans to show the love of Christ. Through a spirit of understanding more people are convinced of the truthfulness of Christianity than by any other means.
15. Finally, Paul wanted to establish healthy patterns of worship among the new believers. In 5:19-22 Paul writes, "Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."
Paul knew that worship was not just a once a week ceremonial ritual. Instead, real worship was done in spirit and in truth - a daily offering of ourselves as living sacrifices, acceptable and pleasing to God in all respects. Without proper worship of God in our hearts, Paul knew that the new believers would never enjoy the fruits of the Spirit from their lives.
The chief end of man is glory God and to enjoy Him forever. When new believers are not taught how to properly worship God they can never learn how to enjoy Him. Failure to learn how to give glory to God for everything leads people to subtley look for ways to personally take the credit for accomplishments of the Spirit.
Without the focus on giving Him all the glory for His kingdom, power, and glory, forever, people tend to become jealous, envious, and self-gloating over their achievements.
When a person learns how to be satisfied when the Lord gets the glory there is greater harmony between the believers. However, those who fail to worship the Lord with their wholeheart secretly are reserving places in their mind for their own self-glorification. Paul wanted the Thessalonicans to learn not to douse the fire that the Spirit puts in the heart of every new believer to shine brightly for God.
He wanted the power of the Spirit to tear down their former strongholds in their minds, actions, and relationships. This could only be done through the ministry of proclaiming the good news with boldness, faith, and love.
He wanted them to be circumspect about what they embraced as truth. He wanted the believers to hold tenaciously to the good without taking for granted the riches they enjoyed in Christ. At the same time he wanted the Thessalonicans to avoid every kind of evil influence that might infiltrate them personally or corporately.
Paul’s style of worship was a practical one that embraced all dimensions of life.
