So to firstly give you a little background on whom Paul was writing to just in case you are like me and don�t really know much about the Thessalonians. Paul here is writing to a small church plant in Macedonia. He spent a small amount of time there with Timothy and Silas and was able to communicate the gospel to Jews and gentiles and people came to know Jesus. Paul seemed to really care about these people but was only able to stay a short while as they were forced out by unhappy Jews starting a riot. I found it really useful to read Acts 17:1-9, this documents Paul�s time there.

Chapter 2 starts with Paul stating what they did with there time at Thessalonians. Preaching the Gospel in spite of opposition, how holy, righteous and blameless they were whilst there. On first read I found this a little arrogant but on investigation found that Paul were defending there actions. There were a lot of Jew�s who were unhappy about what Paul and company were preaching and so they were attacked and discredited a lot.

The thing that really stood out to me whilst studying this short chapter was how similar in a lot of ways their situation was to ours. I think we often feel that Paul�s situation was very different from our own.

I found it interesting the way Paul had to go into the synagogue and reason with the Jewââ?¬â?¢s that Jesus was the Christ. The Jewââ?¬â?¢s knew of Jesus just as most people do today. But when it sayââ?¬â?¢s in Acts 17:3 ââ?¬Å?this Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christââ?¬Â Paul is trying to show them that Jesus was more than just a good man but the Messiah. In other words Godââ?¬â?¢s son who was sent to set us free and give us new life in Him. That is exactly what we are here to do and it is as challenging for us as it was for Paul (although we probably wont get killed for it).

There is also a good reminder in verse 9 of chapter 2 of how Paul had to work a normal job just like to all of us. They worked night and day at tent making to earn their keep spending time preaching on top of that. I find that encouraging and inspiring. Although I strongly believe ministry is working anywhere, doing extra stuff on top of our 9-5 is nothing more than the example Paul sets for us.

So there are a few nuggets I feel I�ve learnt. Like Paul in the face of opposition I want to communicate to others who this guy Jesus really was and like Paul believe we can come to see people know Jesus. I�d be interested to hear your nuggets.

Right, with that out of the way, the idea of reputation jumped out at me when reading this passage. The church of the Thessalonians had clearly built up a good one as we read that as Paul travelled around he had no need to tell people of them. People from all over the place knew who they were and what they were about. Their reputation proceeded them.

This struck me in two ways; firstly on a corporate, Church level. The reputation of the Church is not running at its highest ever level. Scandals, infighting, and a lack of integrity or clear understanding of what it stands for have left the church with a pretty bad name amongst Joe Public on the street. This is surely a huge barrier to people who are searching for the God we are supposed to be imitating. The Thessalonians imitated Paul, albeit somewhat more successfully than the church is imitating Jesus today, and they had an amazing reputation.

Secondly, this has real personal implications. On one level this is the same as what I have mentioned above about the church, as the church is made up of individuals. However, as Christians we should have a great personal reputation. A reputation for honesty, integrity, hard work etc etc. A reputation that is attractive and welcoming to people. A reputation built on us imitating Christ.

The Thessalonians imitated Paul and became a group of people renowned for all the right reasons. This is surly the challenge for us today; let us imitate Christ and build up a sound and attractive reputation. We need to choose to work as though working for God. We need to be honest in all our dealings; work, rest, and play. And we need to be people of integrity. People should know that they can trust us, depend on us, and rely on us. We should be imitating Jesus. That is a big challenge in a world which seems to be moving in the opposite direction.