Reasoning the Gospel

Acts 24 picks up the story with Paul being brought before Marcus Antonius Felix, a Roman governor (52-58). The Jewish religious leaders concurred that Paul was a troublemaker and a “plague” who caused trouble “all around the world” stirring up riots. Paul offers his reasoned defense so that Felix, knowing about “The Way,” put off the religious leaders, waiting until Lysius, the Tribune arrived.

It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly what was said, but Paul reasoned out his faith with Felix. The word, “reasoned” means that Paul had a well-thought through discourse with him. He didn’t preach at him. He had a thoughtful discussion with him! Paul focused on three things – righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. The space is too short to cover all three but it dawned on me that Paul speaks to at least three questions that all people seem to have:

1. If righteousness is a relational “right standing” with another (and everyone wants this in one way or another!), how does one receive a right standing with God?

2. Why is it that I can’t seem to consistently do what it right? Why is it that I know so much and yet my will seems “bent” toward the opposite of what I know to be good? What principle is working in me that seems to oppose my desire for self-control? And if I fail in self-control what does that do relationally to my sense of right standing with another? With God?

3. Why do I judge? What does it tell me if I realize I am incapable of not judging? What am I appealing to when I judge? If I judge am I not admitting that there will be an outside judgment by which everyone’s actions will be judged? And if I’m not appealing to a universal truth, what I am then appealing to?

What would it look like if our evangelism was Holy Spirit aided and empowered discussions that were thoughtful yet leaving evangelistic “time bombs” in people’s laps that nagged at the deep existential crisis people sense?

Acts 5 -The Real Hero

Acts 5 is significant in Luke’s narrative because it marks the first time the early Church faced persecution. This would be the case, off and on, until Constantine legalized Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire.

As I read this earlier, I think what my eyes drifted toward immediately were the clear marching orders in the face of persecution… go, stand up, speak, teach, preach. But one thing stood out to me in my reading today. It was the word “leader” in v.31. The word archegos is translated here as “leader” or “prince”. In other places it’s translated as “pioneer” or “initiator”, “captain“, and “author”. It’s not an easy word to translate from the Greek because the meaning is so broad. What I discovered is that the word is used quite a bit in Greek mythology to describe a hero or champion (it’s mostly used to describe Hercules).

This shocked me a bit. I think when I read Acts 5 my initial temptation is to go to the commands quickly and insert myself in the Acts narrative; I’m the hero of the story! I’m the one who is going to boldly speak about Jesus. Yet, what sunk into my head (and needs to sink in over and over again) is that Jesus is the hero of the story. In what way? He is the one who led the way for us by suffering as the way to receive glory. He is the one who conquered death and initiated new life and credited us with all the benefits. He is the pioneer of the new covenant. He is the author of Life.

He’s the hero of God’s story! But he’s not like the heroes of Greek mythology. They are one-dimensional and while they at times characterize virtue, no one really says, “I want to be just like Zeus when I grow up.” Jesus is the hero of the story, not because he patterns for us how to be moral. As the ultimate hero, he has come to rescue people from their dire and broken situation. We draw near to the one who rescued us as leader and Savior (v.31). As I sit here reflecting, that’s a story to tell not only others, but myself day after day…