This month I’m at the end of a Community Bible Study course in Acts of the Apostles.\u00a0 I went into the study expecting to learn from Dr. Luke’s sequel all about missions\u00a0as experienced by\u00a0the first of many great missionaries, Paul.\u00a0 And I was not disappointed.\u00a0 Of greatest interest is the way that Paul presented the gospel to people of different cultural backgrounds differently.\u00a0 To the Jewish people he talked about the Prophets; to the Greeks in Athens he\u00a0talked about God the creator being unique in comparison to their man-made gods.\u00a0 And in all cases he\u00a0got right to the point of Jesus’ life, death on behalf of people, and resurrection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was interested to see how Paul took care to alter his approach depending on the audience.\u00a0 He always\u00a0appreciated where they were\u00a0at spiritually, and recognized ways in which God was already working to\u00a0draw people to himself\u00a0\/ to\u00a0Christ.\u00a0 When relating to Jewish people, he used Scripture and religious customs familiar to them.\u00a0 When talking to Greeks, he appreciated that they were religious, and tho he was disgusted by all the idols, he didn’t condemn the Greeks for their idol worship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was also impressed with Paul’s perserverence in spite of suffering multiple jail sentences (unjustly), house arrests, beatings, being hassled by Jewish leaders, and several shipwrecks.\u00a0\u00a0All those setbacks\u00a0did not discourage him from telling people everywhere about Jesus.\u00a0 And they didn’t cause him to re-evaluate his methods.\u00a0 He wasn’t bogged down by past sins or accomplishments.\u00a0 Instead, he was able to say, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for whcih God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13b-14)<\/p>\n
After studying the book of Acts, I’m challenged\u00a0as a \u00a0follower of\u00a0Christ to live out my faith\u00a0not based on lofty philosophy or borne out of sitting around the “bath house” or study groups\u00a0thinking, but out of experience, suffering, messing up, being forgiven, out of having put faith into action in real life.<\/p>\n