… 4therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 5This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
Persecution and Christianity go together like sweat and exercise. Inherent in our pursuit of Christlikeness is self-sacrifice to remove world-likeness from our character. This requires nothing less than a strenuous, robust faith that overrides the self-centeredness that has had a death-like grip in our lives. Paul is not to be criticized for his pride in the Thessalonian believers. He is to be affirmed and commended for it. The very fact that this “pride” is expressed in inspired Scripture tells us that God commends such an attitude.
Of everything that besets the Christian desiring to walk in the Lord’s way, “persecution and afflictions” covers it all. For the Thessalonians, the first believers there (who were “persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and a number of leading women”) experienced this as physical harassment. They were bullied by a mob who turned the entire city against this fledgling group of Christ-followers, attacking them and bodily dragging them to the judgment place. Apparently this kind of treatment continued after Paul and Silas left! (You can read the whole story in Acts 17:1–10). And they did well to continue steadfastly in the face of ongoing persecutions. So it is no wonder that Paul used them as an example of enduring faith! They were following the standard set by the Lord Jesus when He suffered for our sakes. Our faith leads us to, in turn, suffer for His sake.
Paul now connects this endurance to God’s righteous judgment. When our faith lags, we can easily begin to wonder if God will ever recalibrate the scales of righteousness. It seems the world is not getting to a better place; persecution is still happening, twenty centuries later. In every generation, people struggle in their efforts to fulfill the Great Commission. Is it worth all the suffering?
The answer of faith is an overwhelming “yes.” But notice that Paul is not talking about the last judgment, where God determines who goes to heaven or hell. This is a different kind of judgment, one that determines worthiness. Seen in this light, we can enter into the joy of the apostles Peter and John, who, after they had been whipped, were “rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). Suffering puts us in the company of those “of whom the world was not worthy” (Heb. 11:38).
Lord, thank You for giving me the opportunity to be worthy through suffering.
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