Devotional Thoughts From The Book Of The Acts Of The Apostles
     The riot in Thessalonica was in opposition to the preaching of Christianity. Those who did not believe and opposed the Christian preaching "took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down art come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one of Jesus."
Acts 17:5-7
     The society then was much like our own. The government allowed, if not endorsed, various sins. When Christians expressed theology and ideas that contradicted the powerful people around town, those who disagreed orchestrated attacks on the Christians seeking to harm them because of their differing views.
     If you watch the news you are aware that similar things are happening in America. If a person gives a contribution to support a concept like traditional marriage, the powerful opposition forces may force him out of his job. If an organization disagrees with a certain style of living it might be harassed and threatened with loss of funds and government favor until they change their deeply held moral views to suit the less than traditional morality of our declining national standards. If a company treats its employees well, but because of religious commitment does not wish to provide drugs that produce abortions which would violate their conscience, and are readily available at low cost, to individual employees who might wish to purchase them on their own, they are threatened with debilitating fines. These violent reactions bespeak intolerance of the worst sort. It is as if the purveyors of nontraditional morality are saying "Believe something that disagrees with our point of view and you'll get hurt: you may lose your job; you may lose your income; you may lose your freedom of speech." It sounds like a very similar reaction to what happened in Thessalonica.
     Despite the threats to Christians who speak and live their faith, we declare Jesus is king.