“For where God built a church, there the devil also built a chapel,” wrote Martin Luther. Paul and Silas could testify to that fact. At Thessalonica, they saw God’s hand as they proclaimed Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah. A few Jews and a large number of Greeks believed. A church was born in Thessalonica in a little over two weeks. Then came the devil’s chapel.
The Jews who did not believe dragged Jason and others before the authorities. Listen to their description of the apostles: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world.” Poor Jason. What was his crime? He welcomed these believers into his house as Lydia did in Philippi. Of what crime did they accuse Paul and Silas? “They said that there is another king, one called Jesus.” Preposterous, right? No. That is exactly what the apostles preached when they said, “Christos Kurios.” Jesus Christ is Lord.
In the ancient world, to call somebody besides Caesar, “Lord,” was the beginning of an insurrection. But this is exactly what the early believers preached. They believed that Jesus is the sovereign King of the universe. They risked their freedom to speak those words. What about us? As long as we are willing to keep Jesus to ourselves, we will face little difficulty. But the day we announce that Jesus is more important than any office in our country, that he reigns without rival, that he alone is great, we will quickly run afoul of authorities of all stripes. What shall we do? We could go along with the culture to get along, and be so wrong.
God is fully prepared to help us with the consequences of telling the truth to the world. This is our mandate: Jesus Christ alone is Lord. We speak his name aloud and we live for his glory alone. This will not make us popular. It never did. We should do it anyway!
