For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you … your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything (1 Thessalonians 1:8).
Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, commends them for their “acoustics.” The message they had received was being reverberated throughout their community, and beyond. It is the word of the Lord, Paul says, but you are the echo chamber for it!
When we engage in missions or evangelism, we are not interested in replicating ourselves, our message, our culture, or our preferences — but in being an accurate, pure sounding board for the gospel in every place, for every people, in every culture. Our message as Christians to non-Christians must not be, “Listen to us because I’m smarter or more successful than you, or because I’m from America.” No, listen because a man named Jesus proved himself to be God and the way for us to God.
God is blessing you to spread and multiply and replicate your faith in Christ across the land.
And what a powerful description Paul gives of the results of such gospel labors! Your faith in God is spreading, multiplying, dispersing like seeds from a dandelion and springing up all over the place. It has gone forth everywhere!
You may be working in and living in one location — and raising children and reading your Bible and praying and going to church and eating meals and mowing your yard in that area — but at the same time God is blessing you to spread and multiply and replicate your faith in Christ across the land and around the world. May this be both the message we share — “the word of the Lord” — and the abounding, contagious, hardy gospel-blooms we see spreading from it.