A simple message
by Stuart Gray
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We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God (Acts 14:15a).
Read Acts 14:1–18
In this and many other passages in Acts, God’s word is a sword through the fabric of the communities in which the word is preached. We are told on many occasions that the preaching was effective, and many people came to believe. But there is active opposition to the preaching of Paul and Barnabas, and the Jews who refused to believe ‘stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers’ (verse 2).
And then there are those who misunderstand or struggle to grasp the point because this new teaching is so foreign to them. Even though Paul and Barnabas have been preaching the gospel in their midst, the people at Lystra are so amazed by the miraculous healing that Paul and Barnabas perform that they hail the missionaries as gods! All they know are their existing gods – Zeus and Hermes – and their familiar ways of worshipping. They are trying to make this new teaching, this new God, fit their existing ideas.
When Paul and Barnabas realise what is happening, they are horrified, tearing their clothes. How can they redirect the focus of their listeners, pagan people with no background in the Old Testament or real knowledge of Christ crucified? Their message is simple: reject worthless things (the old gods, the old ways) and turn to the God who made heaven, the earth, the sea and everything in them. And the evidence of this God? Well, he has given you good things, such as rain, crops and plenty of food, and fills your hearts with joy.
No doubt Paul and Barnabas would have followed up with the preaching of God’s love and saving grace through Christ crucified as they did so effectively with the Jews and Gentiles in many places. But, during this moment, they need to point the people first to the God of all creation, who gives them all good things.
There are many people in our society who are so disconnected from Christianity that simple messages are needed to connect with them, such as pointing to the wonders of God’s creation, that God created us to be in relationship with him, and we can be in relationship with him through Christ crucified.
The opposition to Christianity we see in today’s society, particularly in western countries, is nothing new, yet through all of that, the church survives and, in some areas, prospers.
As God’s people, we need to share the good news at a level that people can understand, that meets them where they are and helps them grow in their knowledge from there. Sometimes, a simple message may be the best one.
Heavenly Father, help us tell people about you, the good you provide to all and, in particular, your saving grace. We pray we can relate to people at many levels with appropriate messages about your love and grace. Amen.
Stuart, with his wife Pamela Dalgliesh, lives in Mansfield, Victoria. Stuart has a background in agricultural science, rural journalism and corporate affairs. He loves living on a small farm in the beautiful High Country of Victoria, being involved in the Mansfield community and travelling. He is currently travelling in Europe, which will include a visit to the Poznan region of Poland, where some of Australia’s original German Lutherans came.
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