When some Gentile Thessalonians joined the Christian community, what they honored changed. Honoring the gods was no longer esteemed. Rather, as Christians, they were to honor the one God. Paul reinforces that value by honoring them in a letter, noting how other churches honor them for doing so: “You became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. . . . They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:7, 9).
