Read Acts
14:1-7
1 At Iconium Paul
and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so
effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who
refused to believe[1] stirred up
the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and
Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who
confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and
wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews,
others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and
Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they
found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to
the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel.
Within Paul and
Barnabas’s first missionary trip,[2]
the disruption caused by unbelievers must have been annoying! On a number of
occasions Paul and Barnabas’ message is being well received, until it is
disrupted. It seems so irritating. I mean it is one thing for people not to
believe themselves but why put others off too? Why could they not just let
other people decide for themselves? Indeed a bit later on these Jews (along
with a group of Jews from Antioch [No. 5 on the map]) travel to Lystra just to
disrupt what Paul and Barnabas are doing! Why are they so bothered?
Well, perhaps it is
that all human beings are “evangelical” at heart! All of us, if we believe
something strongly enough, are not simply content to believe it for ourselves
but want everyone else to too. Certainly I can be like this, particularly with
those I know best. I can remember as a – moderately argumentative – child
spending ages determined to convince my sister, for example, that chocolate ice
cream was far superior to strawberry or that the music I liked was objectively
better than what she was listening to!
Being evangelical at
heart is perhaps not a bad thing for human beings to be either. It is good that
when we feel strongly about something we want others to benefit too. However it
is a problem when, rather than being genuinely for the enrichment of others,
our desire to persuade has more to do with our own pride. As far as Luke is
concerned this is the case for those stirring up trouble for Paul and Barnabas.
He introduced similar disturbances in the previous chapter with the
explanation: “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy.
They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.” (Acts
13:45).
It seems fair to assume that the same is implied here.
- Can you think of occasions in the past week or month when you have tried to persuade somebody to your way of thinking? Being as honest as you can, what do you think your motives were in this? In particular, to what extent do you think you were motivated by genuine concern for the individual(s) involved? (Please note! I am in favour of good passionate debate on all realms of things and I am not implying that we should not say what we think unless our motives are 100% pure [particularly since, if you are anything like me, your motives will always be a bit of a mix!]. However when – like the Jews mentioned here [and also Paul and Barnabas!] – we are not just airing our views but are determinedly trying to persuade others to align themselves with these views, it is perhaps important that we try to be as honest as possible with ourselves as to what we are being motivated by. If it turns out to be pride more than genuine concern, we need to invite God in on this and ask his help to change!)
If you have a bit longer :-)
- Imagine you are Paul and Barnabas. How would you have felt towards the people who were disrupting what you were doing, which had previously been going very well? How would you have dealt with this situation?
- Are there people in your life at the moment who appear to be actively disrupting what you are doing? Does Paul and Barnabas’s experience speak to you about this in anyway?
[1] In Greek, the verb
used here – apeitheo – can also mean “disobey.” On this John Stott notes:
“faith and obedience go together, as do unbelief and disobedience.” (“Acts” pg.
229)
[2] Acts 12:25 - 14:28.
Their trip probably spanned a period of around two years (AD 46-48).
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