Concern for the Saints.

1 Thes. 3:4-5 (ESV)
For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. [5] For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
Paul’s concern for the faith of others never ceases to amaze me. Paul knows something about the communion of saints that is lost to us today. In America it has become somewhat passé to be smug about Europe. The lack of faith there is not often a source of sorrow for Americans. It is often a source of a sick pride. Somehow Americans often refer to it as a pat on the shoulder, as if we are better because we have remained more faithful. It is somehow a vindication of our political system or something. I think we ought to be embarrassed for it. We ought to be embarrassed for our lack of concern. This points to a serious sickness in our churches. Who cares about political systems and who is better. Before God we are all sinners in need of forgiveness.