Deeper Reflection
HAVING RECALLED FOR THE THESSALONIANS HOW “OUR gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (v.4), Paul said to them, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake” (v.5). What is the connection? The “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” in Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel was manifested in “what kind of men we proved to be among you”. For Paul, living out the Gospel precedes proclaiming the Gospel and it was in living out the Gospel that he preached the Gospel. Paul preached the Gospel and “proved” the Gospel by his life. And Paul lived out the Gospel “among you” such that the Thessalonians saw it: “You know.” The “You know” may sound rather presumptuously audacious. But Paul lived out the Gospel in such a way that he could say “You know” with humble and honest certainty and confidence. “No church can spread the Gospel with any degree of integrity, let alone credibility, unless it has been visibly changed by the Gospel it preaches. We need to look like what we are talking about.”⁴⁴ Here is the challenge for the church: “the communicating of the Gospel is by seeing as well as hearing. This double strand runs all through the Bible…Jesus is the Word of God and the image of God. The Word became visible, the image audible…We are familiar enough with the verbal element in evangelism. Where is the visual?”⁴⁵

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John R. W. Stott, Thessalonians, 44 John R. W. Stott, Thessalonians, 44 – citing Douglas Webster, emphasis mine