For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you 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 delivers us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
The conversion of those in Thessalonica was no small thing.* Their conversion included three steps:*
turning to God
turning away from idols
waiting for His Son from heaven.
These steps remind us that turning to God involves recognizing that He is true and living.* This was in stark contrast to the prevailing idol-worshiping culture that surrounded the Christians of Thessalonica.* To confess that God was true and living was to say that all others were false and dead.* This flew in the face of a polytheistic, pagan culture that worshipped many “gods".”
Furthermore, there is no turning from idols without turning toward God.* Both are necessary, and both occurred in the Church of Thessalonica. The Church in Thessalonica was not mixing their belief in God with other beliefs, nor were they attempting to make God just another one of their deities to worship.* They were forsaking all other idols and ways of thinking to follow God.*
Lastly, their conversion demonstrates a following of Jesus that impacts today and tomorrow.* Meaning, their faith was not only believed to impact their future, but it influenced their day-to-day life.* Not only did it influence their day-to-day life, but they stood on the reality of their one-day-returning King.*
These powerful points demonstrate for us how to posture ourselves in our culture that calls us to serve (worship) so many other people and things. but there is more to this story that we must not miss.
The decision to follow God and God alone was not a private one. Within Thessalonica, unlike our society today, faith wasn’t seen as a personal matter that could be avoided in daily conversations and life. In the time of Paul, faith in Thessalonica was a social and political construct.* One’s faith determined the events one attended as a part of a family that was a part of the Thessalonian community.* To abandon idol worship for the worship of the One True God was to remove oneself from family and social activities.* In addition, political power and influence was greatly influenced by what idols one served.* To give up religious attachments could equate to giving up social and political status.* Scholars believe that this kind of detachment from society and attachment to God could have been the source of the persecution that they endured.*
What does this mean for us? Following Christ is a call to abandon all else. Christ is not a dish on a plate of possibilities; He is the One True God. All else should be given up with the understanding that He calls us to live for Him today, and that He will return for us in some tomorrow. In our society, the pressure exists to accept all beliefs and all ways of thinking as equal. In our world today, it’s easy to feel the pressure to allow faith to be for “one day when I die,” or for “one day when Jesus returns.” God calls us to a “today” faith with “tomorrow” perspective that is 100% sold out for Him.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to stop serving anything other than God. Perhaps today God wants you to graduate from a religion that is only socially or politically minded. Maybe today God wants you to wait for the return of Christ with an expectancy that leads to holy living today.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (p. 52). Zondervan Publishing House.
Shogren, G. S. (2012). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (pp. 72–75). Zondervan.
Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (pp. 105–108). W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
Kim, S., & Bruce, F. F. (2023). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (D. B. Capes, Ed.; Second Edition, Vol. 45, pp. 168–170). Zondervan Academic.
Morris, L. (1984). 1 and 2 Thessalonians: An introduction and commentary (Vol. 13, pp. 47–48). InterVarsity Press.
Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 60–62). InterVarsity Press.
Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; pp. 106–109). Baker Academic.