A thought gleaned from our current all-church study <3
Oh the irony. I made a typo in the first part of my Random post yesterday and then later talked about typos. This published writing business is definitely humbling.
On to today’s thoughts.
Hopefully they will be spelled correctly with proper grammar but it is a lot to ask.
Our church has been doing a study of the book of Acts for a number of weeks. We have fancy booklets to use to record sermon notes. In the margin each week is a reading plan for five days.
Miraculously I have kept up with it thanks to being broken in to small passages.
Last week I read Acts 14 and 15. First by small portions and then the whole thing over the weekend.
I was struck in reading and rereading Acts 14, as I am every time I read this passage, how very much like us the people were. This passage is just a roller coaster of popular opinion going south and ending in extreme anger towards Paul and his companions.
It pivots from forming a parade and gathering items to make sacrifices to them, to threatening their lives. It’s not the only place in Scripture where the crowd is all pro something or someone and then suddenly turns into a violent mob against the same.
Very much like our culture, it would seem. Sometimes we, as followers of Christ, seem to be well-loved and accepted. Sometimes the tide of the masses swings to the opposite extreme and we are hated and seemingly misunderstood.
Add into that the many false prophets and pseudo-Christians who spout things that are then attached to all of us and it gets messy.
I think, as I read, the example of Paul as he was horrified and absolutely refused to be lauded as anything powerful or god-like is a good example for us. It is wise to not get pulled into feeling good about our faith walk when met with the approval of man. It helps a lot when the tide shifts and we are no longer favored by those same men.
It helps to ease the flight for our lives when we hold to the same principle of lifting of the name of Jesus and not our own whatever side of the polls we happen to fall on.
This is not an American politically attached statement by any stretch of the imagination.
This is you and me, our children and grandchildren, quietly and faithfully walking out the teachings of Christ, sharing the Good News of His bringing redemption and salvation for the whole tainted lot of us and always and forever pointing others to Him.
No matter what the crowd is doing, stand fast and firm in this. Not I, but Christ within me.
Have a blessed weekend <3