Daily Archives: July 17, 2013

Carelessly Indifferent

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CARELESSLY INDIFFERENT!

“But when Gallio was governor of Achaia province, the Jews got up a campaign against Paul, hauled him into court, and filed charges. This man is seducing people into acts of worship that are illegal.’

“Just as Paul was about to defend himself, Gallio interrupted and said to the Jews, ‘If this were a matter of criminal conduct, I would gladly hear you out. But it sounds to me like one more Jewish squabble, another of your hair-splitting quarrels over religion. Take care of it in your own time. I can’t be bothered with this nonsense,’ and he cleared them out of the courtroom.

‘Now the street rabble turned on Sosthenes, the new meeting place president and beat him up in plain sight of the court. Gallio didn’t raise a finger. He could not have cared less.” Acts 18:12-17 (The Message).

Well done, Gallio! At last a government official with sense!

At first sight, Gallio looked like a welcome champion for Paul and his team. He knew the Jews pretty well. He recognised that they were up to their old tricks again — hair-splitting over religious issues, which was no matter for legal action. They only turned to him because, had they lynched Paul, they would be liable for arrest and trial themselves for committing a crime.

Gallio turned out to be indifferent to their religious nit-picking. He wisely dismissed their complaint because it was a non-issue for the courts, not realising that he had just given them permission to take the matter into their own hands. The street rabble was always looking for an excuse for a brawl, which these unscrupulous Jews exploited to their own advantage. If they could not get at Paul, anyone else would do as a target for their displeasure, and there were always those who would do their dirty work for them.

Gallio’s true colours were exposed when the hooligans, egged on by the irate Jews, turned on Sosthenes in full view of the governor. He was not committed to keeping law and order, so it seemed. Perhaps it was this “Roman citizen” thing again. As long as Roman citizens were not involved, he didn’t care what the others did to one another. As far as he was concerned, they were not his responsibility.

What is it about religion that causes people to forget to be human? Could it be that it is one of Satan’s most potent tools to destroy anyone who has been rescued from his clutches? Throughout the centuries and around the world, atrocities have been and are being committed in the name of religion.

In the name of the church and ordered by the Pope, millions of believers were murdered during the Inquisition in the Middle Ages. The Crusades were nothing but killing campaigns against people of another religion, sadly in the “name” of Jesus. The slaughter continues unabated today. Christians are being persecuted and killed in countless numbers in the name of some god that feels insecure enough to get rid of those who don’t support him!

Regardless of how hard the devil tries, using people like the Jews used the street rabble, he will never destroy God or His people. The fire of truth burns steadily and will continue to burn in the hearts of those who have embraced it, until Jesus comes. We do not have to defend Him or His cause. He is not insecure on His throne!

A Costly Commission

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A COSTLY COMMISSION

“They took the road south through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica, where there was a community of Jews. Paul went to their meeting place, as he usually did when he came to a town, and for three Sabbaths running he preached to them from the Scriptures. He opened up the texts so they understood what they’d been reading all their lives: that the Messiah absolutely had to be put to death and raised from the dead — there were no other options — and that ‘this Jesus I’m introducing you to is the Messiah.'” Acts 17:1-3 (The Message).

Day two after their release from jail! How could these men, who had just been severely beaten and were covered in welts and raw wounds, travel such long distances on foot without painkillers, antibiotics or anti-inflammatories? What was it that produced such determination in them to proclaim this message all over the empire regardless of the hostility they encountered from their fellow Jews and from the Roman government?

God had called them to press into Europe and to Europe they would go, regardless of the cost, because they knew that He had commissioned them and He would accompany and support them no matter how people responded. He had never promised them immunity from trouble and suffering. He promised them His own presence, with all His resources, so that they would fulfil their mission, no matter what.

Why could they be so sure of what they were doing? They had at least three reasons for sticking to their ministry, no matter how high the price:

1. They had the Scriptures. Centuries before, Hebrew prophets had recorded, in detail, prophecies about the Messiah. Every one of those prophecies had been fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ. As Paul preached, he matched prophecies with Jesus and the people recognised the truth that Jesus was their Messiah, just as the Scriptures had predicted.

2. They had personal contact with those who had lived with Jesus for three years, those who had watched and listened to Him; who had been present at His crucifixion and talked with Him after His resurrection over a period of forty days. Paul had had an encounter with Him on his way to Damascus that changed the course of his life.

3. Through the miracle of faith, their own lives had been changed, giving them an inner peace and joy that not even the experience of the past days could erase. How could they pray and sing instead of cursing and complaining when they were treated so cruelly and unfairly by civil authorities? They had a Master who had suffered for them. His grace was enough to see them through adversity until they had completed their assignment.

All these experiences added to Paul’s CV, giving him all the testimony he needed to pen the letters that became part of the Scriptures of the New Testament. Paul could never have written words of encouragement and hope to the believers in so many churches had he not had personal experience to which he could testify. Every word he wrote about living the life was first hammered out on the anvil of his own experience. It had to be so otherwise his words would have been nothing but untested theory and useless for his readers.

This life Jesus came to give us is free but costly. Paul found it so, and so shall we if it is our purpose to follow the Master closely and faithfully. It will cost our plans and desires. The Master’s way may take us along rough and even dangerous paths but the rewards will far outweigh any price we are called to pay.

Paul could say, at the end of his journey, that there was a crown of righteousness awaiting him and all those who are looking forward to the Master’s return.

Are you?