When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.
–Acts 17:1-8 (TNIV)
Two things stand out in this passage. First, we have an admirable model for evangelism. Paul reasoned with his hearers from Scripture (apparently Paul had not gotten the memo that faith and reason are mutually exclusive). He didn’t try to brow-beat those who were willing to listen to him, nor did he try to shame them. He reasoned with them from Scripture to provide his hearers with positive reasons why they should put their whole hope and trust in Christ, the way Paul had done. This, of course, means that Paul needed to know Scripture if he were to use it to reason with his hearers.
We do not have to be professional missionaries to do what Paul did. We can learn our Bibles thoroughly so that we can reason with our neighbors and friends and colleagues in the context of our conversations as opportunities arise (the extent to which we allow ourselves to get real with others is the extent to which those opportunities will arise). Paul went to urban centers because that is where the people were. So too, we can take our witness to where the people are in our daily lives.
Do you love people enough to share real life with them or to introduce them to the One who can give them real life and hope in the midst of our daily living? If you do, be willing to share with folks how you came to know Jesus and how he is helping you live your life, even in the midst of heartache and sorrow.
The second noteworthy thing from this passage is the statement that, “These men…have caused trouble all over the world…” Why, yes they have, thanks be to God! But why does the Gospel cause trouble all over the world? Because it challenges our pride and sense of self-sufficiency. We take offense at the notion that we need a Savior because we are too thoroughly infected with sin to save ourselves. The Gospel challenges worldly notions about power, wealth, prestige, and priorities. Jesus is Lord and we (or our families, countries, jobs–name your favorite thing) are not. This is threatening both to us and to those who demand that we give them or what they represent our ultimate allegiance.We typically want to determine our own priorities, not have them dictated to us, even if the one dictating is Jesus-God.
More importantly, the Gospel demands that we lose ourselves, that we put to death all that separates us from God, and we do not like to hear that or attempt to do so because it is hard to do. Very hard. And so instead, we fuss about the Gospel being judgmental or outdated and/or make all kinds of excuses of why its demands are unreasonable.
But it is true. We cannot save ourselves. Without the cross of Jesus Christ we are toast. But even though that may offend us, we dare not lose sight of the fact that we have a God who loves us and created us for relationship with him, not destruction, and consequently was willing to condescend to us to make it possible to live for him both here and for all eternity. If that doesn’t cause trouble for this world, I don’t know what can.