1 Thessalonians 3:2 – For the Sake of Your Faith

2 and we send Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the evangel of Christ, to establish and to console you for the sake of your faith.

Paul first calls Timothy “our brother.” He stood alongside Paul and the Thessalonians as a fellow believer. Yet at the same time, he was “God’s servant.” His journey to Thessalonica was therefore more than a favor for Paul as a friend. He went in God’s service. That gave weight to his mission without placing Timothy himself on a pedestal.

Paul immediately adds what that service consisted of: “in the evangel of Christ.” There lay his task and significance. The messenger was not central, but the message he served. Earlier, Paul had written that God’s word is operating in those who are believing (1 Thess. 2:13). The power therefore did not lie in Timothy, but in the evangel of which he was a servant.

And for what purpose was he sent? To establish and console (encourage) them for the sake of their faith. Faith was abundantly present among the Thessalonians; Timothy did not need – and could not – produce it. But that did not mean Paul’s ministry was complete. Faith seeks to be established and to grow. There was so much more of the riches of God’s word for the Thessalonians to discover. Timothy’s coming served that purpose as well.

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