Being a Christian is being committed to Christ and His teachings. Jesus called people not to be comfortable, but to take up their crosses and lose their lives if they wished to follow Him (Mark 8:34-35). The life of the apostle Paul gives us a concrete example of what that means. In our text, having just been mistreated in Philippi, he comes to Thessalonica and has the boldness to speak to them the gospel in the face of much opposition (1 Thess. 2:2).

Driven out of Thessalonica, he does the same thing in Berea. Driven from Berea, he moves on to preach to the intellectuals in Athens. In Thessalonica, an angry mob accuses him and Silas of turning the world upside down and of proclaiming a king other than Caesar (17:6, 7). God wants us to turn the world upside down for Jesus Christ by being men and women who are committed to Christ and the gospel.

1. The Proclamation of the Gospel (v. 1-4)
2. The Persecution of the Christians (v. 5-9)
3. The Perspective of the Seekers (v. 10-15)

God wants us to upset the world for Jesus Christ. The world needs to be upset. Sin has made the world stand on its head, and only Jesus Christ can turn it the right way up. To upset the world for Jesus Christ, we need to be men and women who are committed to Christ and the gospel, as revealed to us in scripture.

Discussion Questions

1. Ralph Winter suggests that every Christian adopt a “missionary lifestyle” and give the difference to the cause of missions. What do you think about this idea?
2. What does total commitment to Christ and the gospel look like in a person who is not gifted as an evangelist or missionary?
3. Why is faith not a leap in the dark? Could it rightly be called “a step” rather than “a leap”? Why/why not?
4. Discuss: Is every follower of Christ called to radical commitment, or just those called into missions?