A musical that I have always liked is “The Music Man.” I suspect part of this musical’s appeal to me is that it features two things I really like: Iowa and marching bands (though I think 76 trombones is a bit much for a band!). One of its songs, “Ya Got Trouble,” is a good illustration of some faulty approaches people take in biblical interpretation. The heart of the song is that the presence of pool tables in the town of River City points to impending moral disaster for the town and bases this on links between words, such as the fact that “bum” starts with “B” and “that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool” and trouble starts with “T” “and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for “pool.” At times, people will draw out connections and meanings in the Bible based on words, numbers, spellings that seem interesting, but these are actually just as empty as the traveling salesman trying to sell marching band equipment to some nice Midwestern folk.
While we probably shouldn’t base overarching interpretations and meanings of biblical passages on the rhyme of words or first letters, those things can be good mnemonic devices that help us remember key themes of books and differentiate them from each other. For example, each of the letters that Paul writes in the New Testament to churches deals with different topics and has some different key themes. How do we remember what he writes about in which? A helpful way to recall what is found in the letters to the church in Thessalonica (1 and 2 Thessalonians) is that the city starts with “T” just like the word “Trouble” and that the Christians there were dealing with various troubles (Because the Greek alphabet, unlike English, has “th” as a letter, you can say it technically starts with “th;” however, a fun fact is that the Greek word for trouble also starts with its “th” letter).
We also face many of these same troubles today. I wanted to note the various troubles they faced and show these letters to a church thousands of miles away and written thousands of years ago are just as relevant and useful now as they were then and there.
Persecution
Both the letters to the Thessalonians and the account of Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica in Acts 17 shows that this was a church that faced persecution. In Acts 17:1-4, we read that Paul was preaching in the Jewish synagogues about Jesus, which led to some Jews, as well as Greeks, and women in the town believing in Jesus. However, this sparked opposition from some in the Jewish community within Thessalonica as well as others in the city and a riot ensued. Accusations made against Paul were that he was turning “the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) and acting contrary to the law by proclaiming Jesus as king (Acts 17:7); it caused the people in the city to become more upset (Acts 17:8) and for Paul and others to head to another city called Berea (Acts 17:10).
The intensity of the opposition in Thessalonica can be seen by the fact that the opponents in Thessalonica travel to Berea to oppose Paul as well (Acts 17:13-14), which caused him to have to flee for safety again (Acts 17:15). The letters to the Thesslaonians show that this hostility was not just directed against Paul but those who started following Jesus as well (1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 7) and Paul had warned them about this (1 Thessalonians 3:4). Paul thought that such persecution could lead to the new Christians throwing in the towel on their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:3). While Christians in America face opposition and hostility at times, it is not at the level that Paul and the Thessalonians experienced nor what many of our brothers and sisters around the world face today. This shows us that we should not be afraid of, surprised by, or discouraged in such troubles. While persecution does cause some people to fall away from their faith, it also provides an opportunity for people’s faith to flourish as they cling to Christ and others see their example.
Pressure
In addition to the explicit persecution that we see happening to the Christians in Thessalonica, we can also see what I would call pressures from the culture. The city of Thesslaonica had many places to worship other gods and also had a strong allegiance to Rome. While some of the early Christians in Thessalonica would have been Jewish and thus have already resisted the worship of these gods, many of Thessalonian Christians would have been previously worshiping these gods (see 1 Thessalonians 1:6). Rather than viewing such a change as being a matter of personal belief and freedom, the people in the city likely would have been angry and resenting such a change, as they would view it as potentially jeopardizing the provisions of the gods or of the empire and bringing forth judgment. This change would also have had financial impact upon those whose livelihoods would have been based on those idolatrous practices.
In addition, the city was also marked with sexual immorality, which would mean that those coming to faith in Jesus would differ from the prevailing culture in this regard. There would undoubtedly be pressure to fall back into old habits as well as to conform to the practices of the culture, which is why Paul had to give instruction on this regard in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 as well as encouragements to be self-controlled as children of the light rather than those of the night in 1 Thessalonians 5:4-10.
The charge that they were trying to resist the government and “turning the world upside down” may also be why Paul instructs them to lead quiet lives and mind their own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11), showing that following Christ does not threaten their society but would actually bless it as well. We too face pressures from the world around us as well as those close to us as we worship our God alone and live in different ways.
Grief
In addition to those external troubles, the people of Thessalonica also had some internal troubles. One in particular seems to be grief, as Christians were dying before Christ had returned. We don’t know if these deaths were tied to the persecution or were of natural causes, but either way we can tell that the people were both grieving for their loss and wondering about what would happen to their bodies and souls. This concern leads to Paul’s teachings on the topic in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. We too find ourselves troubled at the loss of our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith and seek to know how to find hope and encouragement in those seasons.
False Teaching
Something else that troubled the church in Thessalonica were false teachings. The particular teaching they received concerned the return of Christ, as it seems that someone sent a message saying that the day of the Lord (and Christ’s return) had come (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2). Part of the reason this was spreading is that people were falsely attributing it to Paul, showing the possibility of false teaching not only being in terms of the content itself but also in terms of the authorship of such views. We live in an age in which it is even easier for false teaching to spread through the communication tools we have; these tools even make it easy to try to show people saying or teaching things they never did. People still attribute false teachings to the apostles, with false writings in their name continually uncovered. In addition, there are many people who spread and circulate teachings about the end times that do not evoke comfort like Paul does in these words (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13; 5:11) but rather fear. They also encourage people into speculation and discovering new things, while Paul directs the Thessalonians back to the teachings that they already had known (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Rather than being scared about the man of lawlessness, they should remember that he is no match for Jesus (2 Thessalonians 2:8). The reality of wickedness and apostasy before the end should not cause us to be alarmed but cause us to praise God for His power and remain faithful as we await that day and if we see it come.
Freeloaders and Laziness
Another topic that Paul discusses in 1 and 2 Thessalonians is the importance of work (1 Thessalonians 2:9-10; 4:11-12; 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-13). This seems to be because there were “freeloaders” in Thessalonica who were not working. This could be because they thought Jesus was coming soon so they didn’t need to plan for the future. Or it could be because they would assume that their fellow Christians with wealth would take care of them in light of their shared faith. Either way, it could also stem from the fact that work can feel like a trouble as it requires great effort and at times has little result; we can grow weary not just in doing good (2 Thessalonians 3:13) but really just doing anything. Lack of work, however, both resists the way that God created the world but also creates opportunity to get into and spread more trouble as a “busybody.” Paul confronts this trouble by pointing back to his own example as a hard worker (2 Thessalonians 2:7-9; see also 1 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
Help and Hope For These Troubles
There are other troubles that seem to be happening in Thessalonica and still happen today like dishonoring leaders (1 Thessalonians 5:12) or being too gullible or skeptical of the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:20-22) but these seem to be the biggest ones.
In the “Music Man,” the solution that the traveling salesman Harold Hill offers for this trouble that comes because of the pool tables is to form a marching band. While I love marching bands, that solution was part of Hill’s con-artist scheme and was not legitimate – and it also won’t help us with the troubles noted above.
Paul’s words to the Thesssalonians helped them and continue to help us today. A key theme in both of these letters is to remember the return of Christ. This reality reminds us that suffering is only for a time and that evil will be punished. This reality invites us to live faithful lives even in the midst of the pressure. This reality tells us that there is hope for believers who have passed, as they too will be raised at Christ’s return (and actually get to meet him first!). Instead of falling into fear about the events leading up to Christ’s return or if we missed it, we need to remember and focus upon Christ’s power that is greater and cling to that truth. The reality of Christ’s return should compel us to work hard as we await him as a way to resist the temptation of idleness or falling into behaviors outside of God’s desires and also to be able to point others to the reality of Christ’s return.
Rather than having to buy something new to resist these troubles, we are called to return our thoughts to a foundational truth of our faith in the midst of these and all troubles.
Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts.
