These days, our news feeds are full of conflict over different lines on maps. One side says the lines don’t matter and greater historical imperatives are at play. The other side says the lines are real, and are ready to die to defend them.
It’s matters like this which have our world on the brink of global war.
For most of us, we have to stand by and watch as leaders and others try to find solutions that don’t threaten to end life on this planet.
Lines on maps are really tricky things.
Many years ago, when I made my first trip to Israel, these kinds of lines gave me a serious headache. We would visit an “historical place”. But those places were never famous for just one thing. They had histories that ran far back in time.
So a site may have been significant for one reason in the time of the Patriarchs for one event. But at a later time, say the time of the judges it was famous for something else. Then in Kingdom Israel, it was controlled by a whole different group of people and notable for something different. Then finally in Jesus day it had a completely different reputation. And in the life of the church following that, it had yet another meaning.
Changing lines on maps can make it difficult to study your Bible. It’s one reason why I like having maps in the back of my Bible. They often show the lines that were in effect during different times. And they provide context as to who was involved and why events mattered.
Take the subject line of this email. Acts 16 deals with Paul’s spontaneous trip to Macedonia in response to a dream. In doing so he crossed the Aegean sea to Macedonia – north of Greece.
Today, that peninsula is recognized as part of the European Union. So “Paul went to Europe”. But his trip and the definition of those lines on the map were separated by nearly 2,000 years!
In Paul’s day, Macedonia was a Roman province. Europe wasn’t even an idea (unless you want to say “the Western Roman Empire”). It’s really a mixing of timeframes. Paul had no vision to reach Europe for Jesus. He just wanted to reach people for Jesus.
All the same, because of modern lines on maps, we call Lydia “the first European Christian”. If you’d visited her and offered congratulations (in Greek, ideally), she would have looked at you like you’d lost your mind. She wasn’t a European. She was Macedonian.
Philippi was the first big place Paul visited on his second Missionary Journey that was on the west side of the Aegean. He traveled south from there, into what we would call Greece today – he would have known it as the Roman province of Achaia.
Later on, he would write 3 letters back to the churches of Macedonia: 2 to the church in Thessolonica (1 & 2 Thessalonians) and 1 to the church in Philippi (Philippians).
For us today, we say “Paul turned west, and headed to Europe.” But even by our modern definitions, he stayed on the very easternmost edge of Europe.
For Paul, it was a big decision. Others took the gospel east. And to this day there are christian churches throughout Asia. But the most famous ones we know about are the ones planted by Paul.
All of this to say that he lines don’t match up. God doesn’t care about the “European” label. The Church that Jesus is establishing draws from all tribes, tongues and nations. We are all citizens of heaven – and heaven has no lines to worry about.
This little view of Acts 16 comes with a caution that it does not serve us well to try to overlay our modern reality (lines on maps) on top of our Bible study. It might feel good to say “Paul went to Europe” – but it’s a very false feeling. Paul was pursuing people who needed to know about Jesus. That’s what matters. And he wasn’t afraid to travel to get the job done.
God blessed Paul’s willingness to go “wherever”. He used it to spread the gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth.”
If anything, this story of Paul’s trip to Philippi and Lydia’s conversion should cause us to worship God even more, for being faithful to His character. He gave us the Great Commission. And He gave us the ability to to see it done. That’s an important takeaway.
One that reaches through time and touches us where we live today. He’s still the same God with the same power. The same Spirit is giving out gifts for the edification of the body.
Are you using yours to maximum effect like Paul?
Hopefully,
Dennis
