Topsy-Turvy

I Thes. 1:4-6

Sometimes when our plans change, we become discouraged.  We may even feel like quitting, giving up. 

Paul didn’t want that to happen to the Thessalonian Christians.  So he declares something exciting about the Thessalonians.  He says, “We know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.”  He reminded them of the exciting birth of their church and praised them for continuing the work of sharing the gospel.

The Gospel’s Exciting Affirmation

Can you imagine how that filled these new Christians with confidence?  Despite the change of plans—which really wasn’t, they’d just mistakenly believed God’s timetable was briefer than it turned out to be—they could be certain of God’s love and that he had a purpose for them.

Some people get a little nervous when they read this verse; they see words like “elect” in some translations or “chosen” in other translations and begin to imagine that God has arbitrarily chosen some individuals for salvation, while leaving others to face condemnation. 

Now, if any Power in the universe has the power to arbitrarily choose those who will be saved, it would be God.  But, is this what the Bible tells us that God has done?  For centuries, Christians have wrangled over this issue.  It is not simply a matter of Calvinist versus Arminian; both groups believe in some form of election.  The difference is how that election takes place. 

Some Calvinists so ardently believe in election they disapprove of evangelists, like Billy Graham, who offer broad, public “invitations” to any and all to become believers.  On the other hand, there are those who somewhat simplistically define election in such terms as:  “God votes for me, Satan votes against me; I cast the deciding ballot.”  Neither position seems to square with the complexity of the issue.

I side with those who look at the entirety of the New Testament and see two recurring themes:

--The New Testament seems to assume our responsibility to respond to the gospel and the corresponding peril of rejecting that gospel.  Believing the Spirit creates the atmosphere in which that response is possible does not preclude the response being our responsibility.

--The New Testament consistently portrays God as being One who “does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance.” 

In the interest of consistency, I think the references to election are to the sovereign God’s grace-driven choice to choose those who believe—whoever they may be—for salvation.

         In the end, I think what Luther said about election’s near cousin, predestination, applies here.  Pointing out that discussions of predestination often lead to fear and dread, the reformer said, “I believe in the Lord Jesus:  What does it matter to me whether I’ve been predestined?”  

         Whatever Paul has in mind, when he looked at the Thessalonian Christians he saw evidence of God’s grace at work in their lives.  When at their best, the Calvinist, the Arminian, and all those in-between admit they are saved, redeemed, on the way to heaven only because of God’s grace.  Paul wanted the Thessalonians to rejoice in that truth rather than mope over any disappointment that Christ hadn’t returned on their schedule.

Evidence of the Gospel at Work

What did Paul see when he looked at the Thessalonian church?

He saw a people who had embraced the good news of God’s love, a people whom God had chosen to choose.  But, what identified them as such people?  What is the evidence of the gospel at work?

1.  They accepted the message.

They believed what Paul, Silas, and Timothy preached.  In fact, they rested their hope of salvation on what they taught.

Despite the almost certain persecution that would follow their becoming Christians, they committed themselves to the Christ who was central to the word preached to them.   Craig Keener talks of how pagans reacted angrily to those who converted to Judaism;  those who converted to the upstart Christianity would have suffered even more.

There were no nominal Christians here.  They stood their ground, despite being novices to the faith.  By the way, there’s an important lesson here:  Success in evangelism does not require the best of circumstances.  The Thessalonians took the gospel to heart, even though doing so placed them in the persecutor's sights.  The same has happened for decades in China.  Despite the concerted effort of the government to destroy Christianity, the church has grown.

At the same time, in spite of any trials they may have faced, the Holy Spirit inspired joy within the new believers.  Paul links this joy to their accepting the message.  He says, “You welcomed our message with a joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, in spite of the painful persecutions it brought you.”

Joy is rooted in what Christians know to be true.  Even though our emotions might be an outlet for our joy, joy is not centered in our emotions.  Christian joy begins in the mind, a mind open to allow God’s Spirit to impress God’s truth upon it.

2. They reordered their lives. 

There lives changed after hearing the gospel.  They could not go on living as they had lived.  So, they began to model their lives according to what they saw in Paul and his team and what they learned from them of Jesus.  In a day when they couldn't buy a New Testament at the corner grocery, new Christians learned how to live Christianly by observing more mature believers.  Since the vast majority of Christians around the world are desperately poor and may not own Bibles or other Christian literature, many new believers still must learn from the example of others.  I’m glad the Bible is readily available to us in the West, but I hope those of us who are more mature Christians might still provide inspiration to others on how to live for Christ.

For some of the Thessalonians the change was probably one of attitude rather than action, looking at their Gentile brothers and sisters in a new way, for example.  For others the change was drastic as they “turned to God from idols.”

Never forget that the Spirit was involved in that change as these believers opened themselves to his transforming work.

What an exciting picture of the Thessalonian church.  But how did this all begin?  It began when some excited believers couldn’t keep quiet about Jesus.  In fact, they were so excited that one of the charges their opponents brought was “who have turned the world topsy-turvy" are here. 

Principles for Sharing the Gospel Effectively.

How was the Gospel brought to the Thessalonians?

…our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

If we would present the gospel effectively, we must do so…

1.  With substantive content.  Williams translation is helpful, "our preaching the good news came to you not entirely in words..."

Luke’s story of the founding of the church in Thessalonica takes only nine verses.  We don’t get a lot of detail about what Paul preached but Luke gives a hint. 

 Paul as usual went in and for three consecutive Sabbaths developed the arguments from scripture for them, explaining and proving how it was ordained that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead. "And the Christ", he said, "is this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you."(Acts 17:2-3)

It’s clear Paul focused on Jesus Christ and his role as the God-appointed Redeemer. 

At the same time, it’s clear the gospel did come with words;  you can’t really share the gospel without words.  Luke’s language suggests this was a presentation marked by careful logic and reasoned explanation:   “Paul …developed arguments from Scripture for them.”  How Paul’s presentation to the non-Jews of Thessalonica may have differed from his presentation in the synagogue we're not told, but we can be sure Jesus was at the center of what he said.   His preaching had content which pointed to Jesus; his message was deep and thought-provoking, challenging their preconceptions.

In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul refers to “our gospel.”  Contrary to some modern writers, including authors of popular novels, Paul is not saying his team preached a gospel which was different from the gospel preached by other Christian evangelists, Peter or John, for example.  The fundamental elements were the same.  Paul certainly wasn’t saying he had created the gospel he preached.

By saying “our gospel” or “my gospel,” as he does in other places, Paul was declaring his commitment to the gospel that he preached, the gospel he ultimately knew as “the gospel of God.”

At the same time, it was clear Paul believed what he was saying.  New Testament translator and commentator James Moffatt said Paul’s preaching showed “personal conviction and unfaltering confidence on the part of the preachers.”

This doesn’t mean that before you can share the gospel with someone, you have to have every question answered and every puzzle solved.  It means you need to be convinced of the core affirmations of the gospel.  We come to that kind of conviction as the Spirit works in us.

2.  With spiritual power.  There is no mention of miracles in the Thessalonian crusade; people may have been healed, etc. but it isn't cited here. But the Holy Spirit backed up their preaching in other ways. 

When Paul mentions that the message came with “the Holy Spirit and full conviction,” he was referring both to how the Spirit gave the preachers an assurance which came through in everything they said and to the way the Spirit impressed upon the hearers the truth of what Paul and the other were saying.  Williams:  “No preaching can be effective without the infusion of divine power (touching all concerned—the preacher and the hearer alike).”

 When you and I share the gospel with another person, we need to be concerned that what we say represents the substance of the gospel but we shouldn’t imagine that our words, no matter how carefully crafted, will win a person to Christ.  We need to depend on the Spirit to work through us and in that person who needs to come to Christ.

Fortunately, the Spirit is always more than willing to be there to give power and conviction to our words.

Because Paul and his team had to leave the city so quickly after the came, those left to lead the church were not fully prepared.  Yet, despite this, the church continued to grow and have influence.  No doubt, they had early learned to depend on the Spirit.  Interestingly, one of Paul’s concerns mentioned in the letter suggests that the Thessalonian Christians may have begun to question the Spirit’s effectiveness.  Paul moved quickly to remedy that.

We need to depend on God’s Spirit if we are going to have an effective witness.

But remember something else.

3.  With simple integrity. 

Paul had faced hardship and trial carrying out his mission as a traveling missionary, taking the gospel to so many new places.  Yet, there were always those ready to criticize and condemn him.  Evidently, this was happening in Thessalonica.  There were those questioning his motives and behavior.

In answer to his critics he said, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”

Not many of us would be so bold as to offer such evidence of our integrity.  We would wrack our minds trying to recall if there were any instances in which we might have behaved in a less than Christian manner.  If Paul had such hesitation, we don't see it here. 

For several weeks the Thessalonians not only heard Paul, they observed Paul and his coworkers.  Their lives backed up what they said.  They walked the walk.  That made an impact.

Paul speaks of the Thessalonians following the example set by himself and his team and the Lord.  What does this mean?  It may simply mean that the Thessalonians were first convinced of the team's integrity and followed their example of trusting Christ, thereby becoming followers of Christ.

It's an awesome thought for any person doing the work of evangelism, that those who need Christ may be inspired to believe, not so much by our words--though those are important--as by our example of faith.

In fact, when the evangelists’ enemies tried to stir up trouble for them, they had to distort the Christian message to get a hearing from the authorities.

   Integrity is especially essential today, when so much negative information about the church, both justified and unjustified is available.  There is hardly anything more important than this in doing evangelism today.

  The fact that the divorce rate among Christians is shamefully high, that our church leaders are the focus of websites about church scandals, that our girls seek abortions alongside unchurched girls, that the businessmen in our pews and on our deacon boards engage in questionable practices all undercut our effectiveness.  Lack of integrity certainly lessens our chances of hearing said about us what was said about the evangelists in Thessalonica:  Those “who have turned the world topsy-turvy" are here. 

Can you see the connection between the character of Paul’s ministry and the character of the Thessalonian church?  Paul lived with integrity, the church, following his example, lived in light of the gospel Paul had preached.  The pattern recalls a comment by John Stott:  “No church can spread the gospel with any degree of integrity, let alone credibility, unless it has been visibly changed by the gospel it preaches.”

Conclusion

Although Paul was writing to a church struggling with a change of plans--disappointment that things didn't work out as hoped, what he says applies to us as individuals.  We, too, in the face of changed plans, still need to remember God has great things in store for us.  Most likely they are greater than we might imagine.  We, too, can rejoice in God's grace.  We, too, can rely on the Bible's promises.  We, too, can expect God's power to be somehow displayed in our lives.  But, we, too, must live with integrity in the face of disappointment for our personal witness to the reality of the gospel rests on how we respond.  We, too, can be effective.

     What does Paul say to today's churches?  It’s hard to imagine the church turning the world topsy-turvy today.  The church is such a part of the culture we hardly notice it.

Being a church member is respectable, as long as you don’t get too excited about it.

But the world needs to be turned topsy-turvy, doesn’t it?

How do we go about it?

Our methods may change but the principles are the same as those seen in the first century.   Whatever method we use, we must focus our message on Jesus.  Whatever method we use, we must rely on God’s Spirit. Whatever method we use, we must live with integrity before a watching world.

 Only then will we see new believers who accept the message and allow it to transform their lives.