“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,” 1 Thessalonians 1:4 ESV
Reflection: why does God “choose” some and not others?
In my early management career in high tech, a woman from a different department kept asking me about the possibility of working in my group. And even if I didn’t have any openings at first, she was very persistent. When I was finally ready to hire a new engineer, I let her know mostly out of courtesy. On paper she didn’t have the experience I was looking for. But, she was very prepared and really impressed us during the interviews, so I decided to give her a chance even through some of the other candidates had more impressive backgrounds than her. And although this was her first engineering job, she soon became my top engineer. She was smart, hard working and highly driven, something I had already witnessed before even hiring her. And, even if I formally was the manager and was the one choosing to hire her, she really was the one who decided that this is what she really wanted to do. Looking back at my career, I have hired others who on paper had a lot more experience, perhaps even more raw talents, but were low performers compared to this young engineer.
We read today about the first Christians in Thessaloniki that they were chosen by God. That concept of being “chosen by God” is a hard concept for us, and in a way seems so exclusive. Like as if God favors some over others. Let’s read on to try to better understand this. “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,” 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 ESV. There are several points here to digest.
The first is the idea of “full conviction”, as we read what happened when Paul preached the gospel to them. “gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” If you remember, Paul started first preaching the gospel in the Synagogue in Thessaloniki, hoping the gospel would resonate with his countrymen. But when Paul finally spoke with these mostly Greek people, the message found “fertile soil”. How do we know? It says that they received it with “full conviction”. And what was the proof of this conviction? “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,”. It is such a contrast to how Paul and the gospel message was received in the Synagogue, where the people had “on paper” knowledge of the scriptures.
We are reminded here that it is not enough to have the knowledge, that we look good “on paper” to be chosen by God. It matters how we respond to His message. Let’s read a couple more verses about how these early Christians turned their full conviction into action. “you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:7-10 ESV. Their full conviction caused them to totally reject their former ways, and instead serve the true and living God, becoming imitators of the Lord. Their testimony of a changed life spoke so loudly that Paul and his mission team “need not say anything”.
I can’t help but think back at the young engineer, who so much wanted to work in my team. How excited she was when she got the job, working harder than any of the others, and becoming one of my all time “favorite” employees.. And in some small parallel way, we can understand why Paul said about these early Christians being “chosen by God”, looking at how the truth of the gospel changed them. And, this story also tells us that perhaps each of us have something to do with being “chosen by God” in how we respond to the gospel message. It doesn’t make sense for Him to choose anyone who don’t have any interest or intention to serve Him but want to serve their own interests, right? Have we allowed the gospel to fully convict us, rejecting our selfish ways, to become servants of the only true God, imitators of Christ?
