Today's passage continues the theme, and finds Paul being held as a prisoner under charges of being awesome. Well, that's not how his accusers phrased it, but from our perspective that's the crime he committed. A group of Jews passing by from an Asian province have raised several false accusations against Paul, and our reading picks up with him being handed over to the Sanhedrin (essentially the Jewish ruling authority).
These people aren't just perturbed by Paul; they want to flog him and kill him! Paul is only able to be heard out by the Jewish council by revealing his Roman citizenship, sparing him from flogging. After a dispute between the Sadducees and Pharisees Paul is detained in prison. While in prison, more than forty men take an oath to not eat or drink until they have killed Paul.
Wow. Talk about ruffling some feathers! The Jews were so offended and enraged by Paul that they wanted nothing more than to kill him. Despite all of this, Paul was as resilient as ever. An angry mob of 40 people sworn to killing him did not trample his ministry, or his faith. He was as bold as ever, and pressed on in absolute trust and self-sacrifice.
I find it very humbling and convicting to think of Paul's ministry. We see the reaction that some have to the cold hard truth of Jesus and have to wonder what story we're telling - apparently it has lost most of its offensiveness. Perhaps it's been diluted, or adapted, or 'contemporized', all in the name of making it more palatable to our generation.
Whatever the case may be, it is clear that a life given to the task of advancing the Kingdom of God is bound to cause trouble. It is inevitable that resistance, persecution, anger, and possibly violence will be provoked by the advancement of the Kingdom and its offensive message.
Where do I see that in my life? I'm afraid that I am more likely to back off at the first hint of resistance than I am to press on like that faithful servant Paul. I would probably be put off by someone calling me an idiot, while Paul had angry mobs trying to kill him.
This is not to say that the amount of hatred directed toward us is an indicator of success; nonetheless, the question it leaves us with is this:
If no one around us is offended by the Gospel, are we sure we have the right message?
The wages of sin is death.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If our lives reflect a watered down gospel that is not at its core offensive, we have missed the mark. No one wants to hear that they are worthy of death for their wrongdoing. No one wants to hear that there aren't multiple paths up the mountain, or that there is only one means of salvation and eternal life. No one wants to hear that all of their good deeds are the equivalent of filthy rags.
If our message to the world is a choose-your-own spirituality one would expect to find on Oprah, we will surely not cause the uproar that Paul's gospel provoked. We can continue to live out a timid, castrated life of spiritual warm fuzzies in confidence that no one will get their feelings hurt.
Instead, let us all be emboldened in our ministry of sharing and living out the Truth, knowing that not all will warmly accept the offensiveness of the Cross.
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