Daily Archives: April 29, 2013

The Gospel Goes Non-Jewish

Christian Life, ,

THE GOSPEL GOES NON-JEWISH

“And with that the apostles were on their way, continuing to witness and spread the Message of God’s salvation, preaching in every Samaritan town they passed through on their return to Jerusalem.” Acts 8:25 (The Message).

At last the apostles were getting it! Jesus’ instruction to take the message beyond the confines of Jewish geography and religion did not seem to have penetrated until the persecution unleashed by Saul forced the believers outside of Jerusalem. Even then, the apostles remained in the city while the rest of the church fled.

Philip was one of the men chosen to serve the widows, along with Stephen and five others. He certainly had no intention of suffering the same fate as Stephen so he took his family and settled in Samaria beyond the clutches of the fanatical Pharisees in Judea.

Unlike the apostles, he had no scruples about spreading the message wherever he went. When he began to preach Jesus to the Samaritan people, something amazing happened. They believed and shared in the life-changing miracle their faith in the Messiah brought.

Peter and John were commissioned to check on what was happening in Samaria. They were still hesitant about stepping outside their Jewish boundaries but what was happening in Samaria through Philip was enough to convince them that the Holy Spirit was doing the same thing in non-Jewish people as He was doing among the Jews.

They left the city where Philip was ministering, convinced that the message of Jesus was not only for the Jews. They set off home armed with a new freedom to spread the message wherever they went, including to the half-breed Jews they had previously despised.

Like any other ordinary believer, their progress in understanding the message and the heart of God was a step-by-step journey, loosing them from their old yoke of superiority and prejudice and teaching them to walk in the yoke of their Master where the artificial divisions caused by race, colour, culture and language were superseded by the new culture of the kingdom of God.

This is part of the miracle of the Message. Jesus has broken down the dividing walls of prejudice and hatred and created a family of people from every race and language who are bound together by the power of the Holy Spirit and who are free to love one another above their differences.

It must have been quite a struggle for these men to let go of their idea that they were superior to non-Jews, a centuries-old conviction that had bred a deadly arrogance in them. The Holy Spirit had to root it out of them thought by thought, experience by experience until they could relate freely to all people with a good conscience.

The story of Acts is not only the story of the growth of the church. It is also the story of the growth of the men who were entrusted with leading the church — tracing their story and learning with them how to walk in the Spirit and to follow the Master.

It is a miracle in itself that Jesus was willing to entrust His church to fallible men and to trust them to lead His people with understanding and integrity, knowing what they were like when He was with them. As long as they acknowledged that He, not they, was the head of the church, the church was in safe hands. When church leaders began to usurp His leadership, the church began to slide the wrong way.

My cry to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is this: “Let’s get reconnected to our Head.” His call is simple. “Follow me! Learn, imitate and obey me.”

To Hell With Your Money

Christian Life, , ,

TO HELL WITH YOUR MONEY!

“Peter said, ‘To hell with your money! And you along with it. Why, that’s unthinkable — trying to buy God’s gift! You’ll never be a part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways, and now! Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you. You reek with money-lust.’

“‘Oh!’ said Simon, ‘Pray for me. Pray to the Master that nothing like that will ever happen to me.'” Acts 8:24 (The Message).

How difficult it was for this man who was so used to letting money talk for him, to change gears. In his world, money opened every door and bought him the power to con more money out of gullible people. They were easy pickings where the realm of the supernatural fascinated them but which they did not understand.

In God’s realm, His provision is freely given because the price was paid by His own Son. He sent His Spirit, not as a power superior to the devil to be used for people’s selfish ends, but as the presence of God Himself with and in His people. Through His people He would put His glory on display by transforming them into the image of His Son and by pouring out His abundant grace through them to meet people’s needs.

Simon failed to understand this new Way. He tried to add the “Jesus” Way to the way he was already following, not knowing that they led in opposite directions. He was on the path of greed and self-indulgence, manipulating people’s gullibility to gain popularity so that he could plunder their pockets.

The way of Jesus is the way of loving self-sacrifice, using money and resources to meet the needs of others in order to make their lives better. This demands a change of heart is so radical that only the Holy Spirit can make it happen. Peter urged Simon to change his mind so that the Holy Spirit could change his heart.

Simon tried to buy this power to use the Holy Spirit for his own ends. Imagine how powerful and wealthy he could become if he want around dispensing the Holy Spirit for a “fee”! That idea came from the pit of hell and Simon woke up from his dream with a jolt when Peter exposed his heart.

It was to Simon’s credit that he acknowledged his error and begged Peter to pray for him. There is no record of Simon after this. Perhaps God’s grace rescued him from a life of self-destruction.

What is the lesson for us in this incident? There is a trend in the church today that is a dangerous deviation from the truth. Greed and self-indulgence are marketed under the guise of the “Prosperity Gospel.” The name-it-and-claim-it movement has been sugar-coated with teachings about faith – believing God “for” whatever our hearts fancy.
This is the very temptation Jesus repudiated. “Use God’s word to get what you want,” said the devil. Satan tried to lure Jesus into manipulating God into doing what He wanted by holding him to His word. “Jump,” said the devil, “God said He’d send His angels to catch you. You’ll impress the people and they will believe you,” he hissed. “No way!” said Jesus. “Daddy didn’t tell me to do that!”

Part of this “con”spiracy is to dangle the carrot in front of the unsuspecting donkey. By “sowing seed” into this ministry, you are guaranteed a “harvest” for yourself. So the ministry grows fat and so do you. If you sow your car, house, jewellery or whatever, God is obliged to give you something better.

Is this really what the Bible teaches?

Not at all. The Bible teaches us that we have an obligation to care for our pastors, our “storehouse” – the local church, our families and the orphan, the widow, the alien and the poor. When we do that, God reciprocates by taking care of our needs. The seed we sow produces a harvest which is both bread for us and seed to sow again. The outcome is that God gets the glory for being who He is, the abundantly generous God who always keeps His promises.

Meeting the needs of others is part of our duty to God. He is not obliged to reward us but He does because He chooses to do so.

Job is another case in point. God had to strip him down to the skin before he finally understood that God owed him nothing. Job was whining about God being unfair because he, Job, had been such a good man. God confronted him in a violent way, not a gentle chat, to show him that, although he thought he knew God, he knew nothing.

God is obliged to no-one. What He does and what He gives is purely because of who He is. His favour and generosity flow out of Himself, not as a reward for who we are or what we deserve.

“It is impossible,” said Jesus, “to serve two masters.” The moment we allow greed to control us, we have changed allegiance and slipped back into the dominion of darkness where we are driven towards self-destruction.

Simon the Sorcerer

Christian Life, , ,

SIMON THE SORCERER

“Previous to Philip’s arrival, a certain Simon had practised magic in the city, posing as a famous man and dazzling all the Samaritans with his wizardry. He had them all, from little children to old men, eating out of his hand. They all thought he had supernatural powers and called him “The Great Wizard.” He had been around a long time and everyone was more or less in awe of him.

“But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God’s kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left! Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip’s shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn’t leave Philip’s side.” Acts 8:9-13 (The Message).

What was it about Philip and his message that caught Simon’s attention? He was a con man and was used to getting people’s attention and keeping them mesmerized by his trickery. His ego fed off the power and popularity he enjoyed, knowing full well that he was a fraud but basking in the control and wealth he gained through his lies.

When Philip interrupted his run of success, he probably thought he was just another con man like himself with superior skills that he needed to learn. So, having lost the popularity and interest of the people, he joined the new following in the hopes of learning the secret of Philip’s power. He shadowed Philip to find out how he did it. His real motive for becoming a believer did not surface until Peter and John arrived to find out what was going on.

“When the apostles in Jerusalem received the report that Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Up to this point they had only been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus; the Holy Spirit hadn’t yet fallen on them. Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:14-17 (The Message).

The scene was set for Simon to reveal his true colours. He was jubilant. He had seen for himself the secret of the power that Philip had and he had seen how he could be a part of the elite group who could dispense that power to whoever wanted it. This was better than he had ever dreamed possible!

“When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands, conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, ‘Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price!'” Acts 8:18-19 (The Message).

Simon’s reaction revealed that his greedy heart had never been changed. He was still being motivated by the lust for power and money. He was willing to use his money for the opportunity to buy more power so that he could earn more money! That’s it! Bottom line!

How often Jesus used people’s attitude to money and possessions as the acid test of their inner life! The rich man who came to Him to find out what he had to do to earn eternal life was disillusioned when he was told that it was his money that stood between him and Jesus, and he walked away. Zaccheus, on the other hand, experienced true salvation which he evidenced by his attitude to his money and possessions. “‘Look Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor…'” Luke 19:8b (NIV).

We either hold and use our money as a servant or we are held and used by it as slaves. Simon’s heart was exposed. His god was Mammon, and not even “belief” and “baptism” had changed him. Who or what reigns in your heart?