The past few days my New Testament reading has been in the Book of Acts. This book excites me every time I read and study through it. There is always something new to learn. As I have read about, what I will call "The Adventures of Paul," I have called to mind something I heard about Paul years ago. After Paul met Jesus on the Damascus Road, he was completely sold out to Jesus and he would not compromise that Name. This uncompromising stance is the reason for the quote: "Everywhere Paul went, there was a revival or a riot." This is true. Is this because Paul was a troublemaker? I guess if you were on the unrepentant Jews or the pagan's side, you would call him a troublemaker. I don't think Paul was a troublemaker. I think he was a dedicated man of God, who refused to be taken off message by people who opposed what he taught. He did not present Christ as another deity to worship, rather, he presented Christ as the only means of salvation. It is not recorded that Paul spent a lot of time railing against Caesar or Roman rule. I might be wrong about this, but I do not detect that he railed against false religions. He simply preached Jesus, won converts, and started churches. All that he did was based on being pro-Jesus - for lack of a better term. He did not agree with the conservative Jews, and he certainly did not agree with the worship of false gods, but his emphasis was not on these things but on Jesus. For example, when Paul was in Athens, he was troubled by all of the idols, especially one to an "Unknown God." His sermon to that bunch of Epicurean and Stoic philiosophers was about the resurrection of Jesus. He made it plain that a god made by human hands is no God at all, but his emphasis was on the risen Christ. He got in trouble because he would not compromise what he believed about Jesus, not on his stand on Roman rule.
I am not suggesting in this that we never take a political stand. Today some political stances give a direct challenge to our devotion to Jesus. What I am suggesting is that we do better when we stick to the positive message about Jesus, and that our concern is not about getting the best of our opposition, but that the Holy Spirit will convert them to Jesus. Jesus chose us to be His witnessess, not necessarily his defenders. No matter who seems to be winning the day, eventually Jesus will rule and reign, and we will reign with Him. He doesn't want us to be on defence as much as He wants us to be on offense. So if we are going to cause "a revival or a riot" let's do if for and in the name of Jesus. If we are going to get in trouble with society, let's make sure that we are in trouble for our stance on Jesus and not because we are really troublemakers. After all is said and done, we Christians are to love all people. That doesn't mean that we have to agree with them, but it does mean that we are to witness to them by the way we behave and by what we say. Our greatest act of love is to tell them about Jesus, and to demontstrate that love by how we treat them. When they know Jesus by faith, they might not agree with us about everything, but they will be saved. That was Paul's aim, and it should be our aim. Here it is in Paul's own words in his last meeting with Ephesian elders in Acts 20:24: " However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." (NIV) Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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