2 Gifts We Bring to Each Other During Trials
By Michael Kelley
The Thessalonians, like other early churches, were well familiar with trials. That was the general pattern of faith in the New Testament times - Paul, or someone else, would present the message of the gospel, people would receive and believe it, and then almost immediately they would feel the consequence of doing so. Paul said as much:
All who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12).
Why was that? Well, it’s because Christianity - unlike other religions of the day - was a unique threat. In that day and time, the political authority of the land was intertwined with religious devotion and emperor worship. In the Roman world, civic loyalty and religious compliance were inseparable; honoring the state gods and participating in the worship of the Roman emperor was considered a citizen's duty to ensure the peace and prosperity of the empire.
When early Christians confessed that "Jesus is Lord," they were implicitly declaring that Caesar was not. That refusal to worship Caesar was seen as treason against the state itself. As a result, trials and persecution, as a direct effect of professing Christ, were the normal Christian experience
So what did Paul do when he knew the Thessalonians were experiencing these trials? He sent them a gift named Timothy:
Therefore, when we could no longer stand it, we thought it was better to be left alone in Athens. And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions (1 Thess. 3:1-2).
Timothy had two jobs when he got to Thessalonica - to strengthen and to encourage.
Those two words sound like the same thing, but they’re not. The word translated as strengthen is a word that means to fix, anchor or stabilize. It’s a construction and engineering term. Think of pouring a concrete foundation below a building in order to give it a firm footing. This was Timothy’s first job - structural stabilization.
Paul had to leave the city quickly and under threat - far quicker than he wanted to. Because he did, he wasn’t able to fully and theologically stabilize the church. As a result, the Thessalonians were left with some real theological questions. Timothy was meant to provide some of that supplemental teaching so that the Thessalonians had a firm foundation of faith.
But that second word is different. The word translated as encourage comes from two roots - para, which means alongside, and kaleo, which means to call. It is actually the verb form of the noun parakletos, which Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit in John 14 - there it’s translated as Comforter or Helper.
In ancient Greece, military historians used this word to describe someone like a general who walked up next to a platoon of soldiers who had lost heart. That general would speak the words they needed to pick up their weapons and get back in the fight. So if strengthening meant stabilizing the theological foundation, encouraging meant breathing fire back in the soul. This isn’t some pat on the back; it’s a get-down-in-the-mud and infuse courage and motivation into a weary heart.
Strengthening keeps you from collapsing; encouraging keeps you from quitting.
This is why Paul sent Timothy, because the Thessalonians needed both in their trials. And this is the same thing we can do for one another when trials come. True enough, we might not experience the kind or level of persecution the Thessalonians did, but the trials will be there nonetheless. Our commitment to Jesus will cost us something. And when it does, where will we turn?
To Jesus, of course, but also to each other. Because it’s through each other that we can be reminded of the truth of who God is and what He’s done for us in Christ. We find strength for our faith. And it’s through each other that we find the courage and fortitude to get up and keep going. Through each other we find encouragement for the road ahead.
Be that gift for someone today. And look to someone else to be that same gift for you.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.