Last week I pointed out that there was no template for missions in the early days. Paul didn’t have a plan already developed for his first missionary trip. He was just going and doing based on what the Spirit led him to do and what made sense to him.
Acts 13 tells us that step 1 was to hop on a boat and sail to Cyprus. The longer term plan was to go north into what is today Turkey. But first they headed west on a ship.
I suppose this was better than walking. But given where they ended up, it was definitely a long route to get there.
From this one chapter can see a couple really big points jump out.
It’s like these were predictions for the rest of Paul’s missionary experience. It started this way and for the most part you’ll see that it didn’t change much for the rest of the time. This was the shape of Paul’s life – up until he was executed by Caesar many years later.
- It wasn’t easy
In Acts 13;13 we read ” And John left them and returned to Jerusalem…” John (known elsewhere as John Mark, or just Mark) didn’t like what was going on, so he bugged out at just the second stop.
We don’t have details about this. All we know is that John (Mark) left and went back home. Perhaps he was homesick and wasn’t cut out for foreign travel. Perhaps, it wasn’t travel in the matter he was accustomed to. Maybe the spiritual intensity of it was more than he was equipped to handle. Either way he left.
This will circle back and be a really interesting point later.
- God was driving it.
After the first stop, Paul started his evangelistic methods and quickly word got out such that the Roman governor (proconsul) heard about it (more about that later) and asked to hear what Paul and Barnabas had to say.
This kind of publicity doesn’t come about easily. It’s not every day that a visitor get’s invited to have a conversation with the most powerful man on the island.
But that’s what happened here. God arranged an audience for the missionaries and put His power on display.
- Opposition was constant
The Jewish false prophet Bar Jesus actively opposed them as they spoke to Sergius Paulus the proconsul. Apparently, he had an in with the Roman governor and didn’t want anyone else getting on on a piece of his action.
We don’t know the nature of his opposition – just the reality of it. Paul’s response, however, was powerful. Miraculous. He struck the false prophet blind as a demonstration of the power of God (in contrast to the “magic” done by Bar Jesus).
Sergius Paulus was amazed by this and believed in God. In this way, he is the first reported convert of Paul’s missionary career. It’s possible Paul had others before this, but we know of the Roman proconsul as the first reported in scripture.
After this big spiritual victory, they moved on to Antioch in Psidia (the “other Anticoch” – this one on the southern coast of modern day Turkey). Paul followed his “normal” program and started off in the local synagogue, teaching and preaching the gospel to the scattered Jews who had settled there.
In a word, they didn’t appreciate him. Acts 13:45 says that they were jealous of the crowds that gathered to hear Paul speak. While Paul preached a sermon that the Gentiles loved – seeing that they were included in God’s grace, the Jews incited a rebellion amongst the Jewish community.
Acts says that the persecution was so great that they drove Paul and Barnabas out of the district. They couldn’t stay for fear of their lives.
This will end up being a common outcome of Paul’s missionary travels.
But let’s stop and think about it.
Paul wasn’t persecuted because he was an awkward person. He wasn’t attacked because he smelled funny. He didn’t draw the ire of the Jewish leaders because he was saying things that were inaccurate.
Paul was persecuted because through him the Power of God was at work. And those who were of the world (in this case the jealous Jews) could not stand the presence of such spiritual truth and victory.
They couldn’t defeat that kind of power in the spiritual realms. The only thing they could do was kick it out of their community.
Yes. Paul was so successful as a missionary, he wasn’t allowed to stay long in the cities he visited. Any longer, and the people there would resort to violence to get him gone (indeed that will happen).
Have you ever used that as your definition of success?
Have you ever said “I’ll only consider this effort successful if it generates such opposition that I have to flee for fear of my very life?
That’s how the Apostle Paul rolled. He worked in one currency and that was the Power of God in the Gospel. People heard it and either repented or revolted against him.
How would your life be different if you started to use that as your standard of success?
It’s an unpopular question. Today success is measured in how much people love us and support us. But for the Apostle Paul, his success was measured in Death Threats.
Remember back in Damascus? That’s where the threats started. He had to escape the city in a basket over the wall. Years later, nothing has changed.
Paul only cared about 1 thing. The Gospel – Christ Crucified. Everything else was just noise.
And when Paul preached Christ Crucified, the power of God was activated and powerful results happened.
How about we make what’s old new again and start to think about success like the Apostle Paul?
Thoughtfully,
Dennis
