Even before the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, it was illegal for a Muslim to become a Christ-follower, and yet, in early July 2021, a group of Afghan pastors and Christians decided to register with the Afghan government. Why? These Afghan Christians were willing to risk persecution now so that future generations of Afghan Christians might experience more freedoms as the country continued to reform and increase in freedom. By God’s grace, these leaders were not arrested and enjoyed some measure of freedom. But only for a minute. This past week, the Islamic Republic fell to the Taliban, and all their names are on that list. One of these pastors received a letter from the Taliban: “We know who you are, what you do, and where to find you.” By the time they were at his door, he had gone into hiding.
Women and girls are losing rights and privileges, even being kidnapped, sexually exploited, and married off to jihadists as spoils of war. One Afghan Christian, whose village was recently taken over by the Taliban, reported that his 14-year-old daughter “was ripped from his arms” and forced into a “marriage” with a Taliban fighter. (From https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/afghanistan-afghan-pastors/)
It is in this context that many Afghan Christians have decided to say. I heard one story of a group of Afghan Christians who had a water ministry, literally just passing out water to Taliban fighters, looking for openings to share the good news of Jesus. Our Afghan brothers and sisters are bound by the mission of Jesus and their duty to Him, who gave Himself up for them, to bravely stay and humbly serve and boldly speak the good news of Jesus to their fellow Afghans, and even the Taliban. THAT is missional and invitational neighboring, which is part of our vision and prayer to become a church for the community, this year…
We are asking God to grow us in missional and invitational neighboring.
- Neighboring = opening up to relationship with whoever God brings
- Missional = being intentional with the unbelieving and unchurched for the sake of Christ
- Invitational = connecting the unbelieving to Jesus and the unchurched to Calvary
I sometimes lack the boldness to jump in and place an order at the Farmer’s Market, let alone share Christ. Imagine doing this in Afghanistan. Imagine sharing Christ with your cousin who has friends in the Taliban or your sister who’s understandably terrified of Muslim radicals. Yet this is part of the royal duty of the people of King Jesus. First to be disciples, and then to make disciples. Wouldn’t it be amazing to always have the courage and confidence to speak the truth, especially when it comes to the truth and love of Jesus?
We’re learning this summer how to make disciples any time and any place from one of the most famous and fruitful missionaries ever: the Apostle Paul. In Acts 18, we see where the Apostle Paul got this courage and confidence from, and it wasn’t from himself! In a letter he wrote to the church in the Greek city of Corinth, Paul explains his approach to sharing Jesus…
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible… 22 I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19, 22-23 NIV)
Paul was ready to surrender any piece of his identity except Christ, even willing to suffer pushback and public shame, as long as it gave him a chance to share Christ with someone. He wanted to reach people for Christ’s sake, their sake, and his own sake. I hope that we learn from Paul’s motivation, methods, and message so that we too might become fruitful witnesses in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and beyond, making disciples any time, any place.
The Story
1) Paul and company ramp up ministry in Corinth. (18:1-5)
1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.
Corinth, the capital city of the Roman province in Greece, was a large, impressive, and prosperous city, and this is where Paul strategically decides to stay and minister for however long god would have him. He connects Priscila and Aquila. They were not only fellow Jews with Paul but also likely Christians already. Because they also worked the same trade as tentmakers, they made great partners in both making a living and making disciples.
During this time, Paul was doing manual labor during the week to earn his keep with Aquila and Priscilla and teaching on the Sabbath in the synagogues. Once Silas and Timothy came, probably with support from the churches in Berea, Thessalonica, and Philippi, Paul was able to teach “full-time” both on the Sabbath and throughout the week. It appears that Paul did not usually have side jobs in other cities, so why, at least at the start, in Corinth? First of all, he was alone at the start. Any money that Paul and his team had from supporting churches like the ones in Antioch seems to have stayed with the team in Macedonia while Paul pressed ahead, and there wasn’t a church in Corinth to support him yet. But even once there was an established church, Paul refused his well-deserved paycheck, because he wanted to be able to offer the gospel free of charge. He wanted to do this so that no one could doubt his motives (“He’s only in this for the money”) or manipulate Paul’s ministry (“He must do and say what I want because I pay him”).
Paul is able to ramp up his ministry, teaching that Jesus was the Messiah. This was a challenge because Jews and God-fearing Greeks did not want to worship and follow an apparently humiliated, crucified “loser” like Jesus. Paul reminded the church in Corinth of his teaching ministry in his first letter to them: “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:1b-5)
2) Paul fulfills his duty to the Jews and pivots to the Gentiles. (18:6-8)
6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.
In verses 4-5, Paul demonstrated that he was willing to debate with the Jews to show Jesus was the Messiah, but, now in verse 6, he’s unwilling to continue in the face of fierce opposition and verbal abuse (blasphemy, slander). Even then, he doesn’t totally give up; he settles in right next door to the synagogue at the home of a God-fearing Roman God-fearing and still sees God draw some Jewish, including the synagogue leader to Himself and they’re baptized! 🙂
Look at Paul’s words to the abusive Jews in verse 6: “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it.” Paul gets these words from the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel 33:1-9. The prophet Ezekiel was responsible for pointing out Israel’s idolatry and injustice and calling them to turn back to God and His ways. God told Ezekiel to think of himself like a “watchman,” a “lookout.” It’s a watchman’s duty to keep an eye out for enemies and sound the alarm–a trumpet–if he sees it. If the lookout sees enemies and sounds the alarm, even if the people are killed, he is innocent of their blood because they could have taken action at his warning. But, if the lookout sees enemies and does NOT sound the alarm, God says, the blood of the people is on the lookout’s head. Paul owns the call for himself, to sound the alarm for Jews (and Gentiles) wherever he is.
3) King Jesus makes and keeps a promise to Paul. (18:9-17)
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
Is this not one of the most epic pep talks ever? King Jesus shows up, right when Paul must need it most, and gives a three-part command and a three-part promise. King Jesus commands courageous, continuous Gospel ministry, even in the face of intimidation and resistance. Again, Paul is duty-bound to sound the alarm for Jew and Gentile by sharing about Jesus.
And Paul can find this courage and confidence to continue by trusting in Jesus’ three-part promise. Jesus first promises His presence. At the moment of one of my kid’s births, the doctor asked me, out of the blue, “Would you like to cut the umbilical cord?” The baby’s screaming, mommy’s screaming, and you want me to perform an essential surgical procedure? Right here, right now? With no training? I’ve never even held scissors shaped like this before. All of this flashed through my mind in half a second, and then I was comforted by the thought: “The doctor is with me.” The doctor would have never asked me to do this if she wasn’t fully confident in my abilities (or lack thereof) and her oversight and expertise. How comforted must Paul have been with the thought: “King Jesus is with me.” Now God’s promise of “I am with you,” which appears many times in the Bible, is often used for comfort in tough times, and we of course need that. Perhaps you have been comforted in trial or temptation or tragedy by God’s promise of “I am with you.” But here, the promise is not only comfort for tough times; it’s comfort for tough mission.
Second, Jesus promises His protection. Even though Paul knows Jesus has always been with him, Paul has been persecuted and had to leave towns before. Paul might assume that Jesus’ promise of presence did not necessarily include protection. Jesus didn’t protect Paul from harm in Lystra when a mob stoned Paul and left him for dead. Jesus did not protect Paul from harm in Philippi when the Romans beat him and threw him in prison. But this time, Jesus promises to protect Paul from harm!
Lastly, Jesus promises people. Apparently Jesus still has many people in Corinth that He wants to draw to Himself. The implication here is that Jesus knows who His followers are before they even know Him. In some of Paul’s letters, Paul will worship God for the fact that God knew His people even before He created the world (Romans 1, Ephesians 1)! In Corinth, Jesus has many more followers who have NOT YET decided to follow Him and been baptized. We know of other later converts in Corinth: Gaius, Fortunatus, Achaicus. These are some of the people Jesus had in mind!
As always, Jesus chose the perfect time to reassure Paul because he’s about to need it…
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
The Jews are probably trying to frame Paul as breaking Roman law here, though we know he isn’t. But this begs the question: Why do these Jews care so much about Roman law? They don’t actually. They are simply trying to get Paul in trouble with the authorities. Here’s the ruling:
14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 16 So he drove them off. 17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.
Paul was left unharmed just as King Jesus had promised, and in fact, it seems Paul’s chief opponent got punished instead.
4) Paul returns home with a “teaser” in Ephesus. (18:18-22)
18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
Paul has a very short stay in Ephesus now because he is wrapping up his trip. He has already been gone from his home church in Antioch and from the holy city of Jerusalem for about 2 years or so. So Paul promises, “Lord willing,” to come back to Ephesus, leaving Priscilla and Aquila who can presumably carry out some Gospel ministry until God allows him to return. We’ll learn a lot about Paul’s ministry in Ephesus in the coming weeks.
The Lessons
1) Do your duty.
What is our duty? As Christians, we have lots of duties: love God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength, love your neighbor as you love yourself, love your fellow Christians as Jesus has loved you, work hard and don’t worry, if you’re single, stay faithful to Christ, if you’re married, stay faithful to your spouse, and more. There may be things we each feel obligated to that we are not actually be–hobbies, entertainment, unhealthy relationships with unhealthy boundaries, social media–but one more duty is sure: every Jesus-follower has the obligation to show and tell Christ to unbelievers. We each do this in different ways. John Bos prays for his fellow nursing home residents by name before every meal. Liz Palamo took leftover lemonade and literature from our neighborhood walk earlier this summer to random people she saw on the streets around town. Casey and Kristin Anderson invited friends to watch the livestream home at home during the pandemic and then invited them to attend in person. Some of us preach. Some help and serve. Some pray. Some invite. Some listen and give practical advice. Most of us probably ought to do a mix of these things.
And we each have a duty to different people. I think some of us have this concept that if we’re not stopping literally every person we pass to share Jesus, we’re not doing it right. But Paul and Jesus didn’t even do it like that. Individually, we can’t tell the whole world about Jesus by ourselves, so God entrusts each of us with circles of relationships. We each have a duty to those people. For me, it starts with my family. My wife and my children and then our extended families. Then, it’s my Calvary family, and the unbelievers you connect me with–your families and friends. Beyond that I am obligated to my next-door neighbors and others I’m getting to know through my kids and their friends. Then there are random strangers and acquaintances that God might nudge me to share Christ with. At this point, it comes down to conscience. If I’m walking with the Spirit and He nudges me to share Christ with someone, it’s my duty to do so. Who are you obligated to?
If you and I are doing our duty, our consciences should be clean. We’ve done what we can do. We still ache for these loved ones to know Christ, and we don’t give up. But we know we’ve done everything we should.
2) Jesus is with you.
Jesus promised Paul presence, protection, and people, and I think those promises carry over to us to a large degree. And wow do we need Him. Reaching out to adult children who might seem to have turned their back on Jesus? Sharing Christ with seekers and unlikely converts? Sharing Christ in a culture that is offended by our King’s death for sin, resurrection from the dead, and commands to avoid the love of money, to sexual purity, to self-sacrificial love, even for enemies, etc.? We need the assurance that Jesus is with us. He has given us everything we need. In fact, He’s done the hardest part–being the Gospel!–we just need to share it, and He’s with us every step of the way.
While we don’t have this specific promise of temporary bodily protection like Paul did in Corinth, we DO have the promise of resurrection. We need not fear anyone who can only kill the body. Only fear the one who can kill body and soul–God! Even still, God has a purpose for each of us in life, and, once we’ve accomplished it, He takes us home. Our task in the here and now is to simply walk with Him and obey and persist in that purpose until it’s our time to die. That means focusing on any other purpose is a waste of time. That also means that, if I’m walking with Christ, I cannot die until I have completely served God’s purposes for me! Christian, if you’re walking with Jesus, you cannot die until you have done everything God wants you to do.
This week, a church member mentioned that he has been handing out invite cards to people he’s ministering to, such as the family of a friend who was dying, and he was a bit discouraged that no one has taken him up on it yet. Don’t be discouraged!
I’ve got a list of dozens of unbelievers that I pray for all the time and reach out to as often as I can. Who’s on your list? Who are you duty-bound to share Christ with while Christ stands with you? How many people on our lists, how many people in the Muskegon area, how many people in the world actually belong to Jesus though they don’t know it yet? He’s got people! Let’s sound the alarm!
Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion
- Do you believe you have a duty to invite people to Christ? What’s at stake in this duty?
- Who specifically do you have this duty to? How do you know?
- To what degree have you fulfilled this duty? What’s holding you back?
- How would believing Jesus’ promises of presence, protection, and people help you to “not be afraid, keep on speaking and not be silent”?
