Project 119: Acts 14:19-28
| | Dr. Wayne Splawn
The office supply store Staples launched a famous ad campaign a decade ago that featured an easy button. When faced with the daunting task of organizing the office, one lady tells her co-worker to simply press the easy button and everything will be taken care of in an instant. The co-worker decides to give the button a try and when he presses the button the office is instantly transformed into a tidy and organized place. Who wouldn’t want an easy button if such a thing really existed? I imagine we would all purchase at least one!
Our desire for things to be easy often influences how we think about following Jesus Christ. We like for worship services and small groups to be offered at times that are most convenient for us. We try to avoid the rejection of others by not being too vocal about our faith. And, we often avoid any risks associated with faithfully following after Jesus. The problem with this approach to discipleship is that it is at odds with the picture of discipleship we read about in the Bible. In Acts 14:19-23, Paul is dragged out of the city and stoned by those who opposed his ministry. Paul and the apostles were not alone in the opposition they faced. The multitudes who made up the new churches the apostles started also faced persecution. So, as Paul made his way back through the cities he had previously visited, he encourages them to continue in the faith by reminding them that, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Facing opposition and enduring suffering is part and parcel of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
There is no easy button that will make our pursuit of following Christ free from opposition. In fact, a lack of opposition may indicate that we are not being as faithful as Jesus desires us to be. Have you allowed your pursuit of an easy life to negatively impact your pursuit of Jesus Christ? How might God be calling you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow after Jesus? Following Jesus will not always be easy, but any suffering we endure in this life in our pursuit of serving Jesus will certainly pale in comparison to the joy and meaning we will experience when we choose the path of faithfulness.
Acts 14:19-28 (ESV):
19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.