“Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your
steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that
you are enduring.”
2 Thessalonians 1:4 ESV
As we seek to serve
the Lord, our tendency is to think that we can only do so among those who are
nearby. We tend to think that we can only serve the Lord among those who
surround us on a day-to-day basis. We tend to think that we can only serve the
Lord among our family, our friends, and members of the community in which we
live.
We also tend to
think that we can only do so among those we are directly serving. We tend to
think that we can serve the Lord only as we minister to them directly. We tend
to think that we can serve the Lord only as we personally interact with people.
And we tend to
think that we can only do so by intentional activity. We tend to think that we
can do so only through active service. We tend to think that we do so by
something other than our ordinary, day-to-day, life.
However, as we see
in the above verse, this is far from the truth. We find that we are able to
bless people from a distance. In fact, we find that we’re able to influence
people without personal interaction or contact. And we find that we can do so
by simply living a life of faithfulness.
We see in the words
of Paul that the church of Thessalonica was doing just that. They were blessing
people as the report of their faith was being made by Paul and his companions.
They were blessing others as their faith, in the midst of persecution, was
being shared with other congregations.
We see that Paul
boasted about the believers at Thessalonica. And the reason he did so was
because they remained faithful in the face of persecution and affliction. In
this way, they became an example to other believers in other cities throughout
the world of their day.
I’m not suggesting
that we, as American Christians, are under the same type of persecution and
affliction. However, like the believers in Thessalonica, we can serve as an
example to others. By simply living out
our faith on a regular basis can influence others in their own life of faith.
We can influence others as
we live out the vocations assigned to us. We can influence others as we live
life as a godly husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter. We can
influence others as we live life as a godly employer or employee, ruler or
citizen, elite or commoner.
I’m also not suggesting
that we should boast in ourselves. I’m not suggesting that we should pridefully
hold ourselves up as “super-Christians” before others. However, we should
realize that people are watching us, believers and unbelievers alike, as we
live our life and serve others with faith in Christ.
