Day 3: Acts 17- Scenes from Paul's Missionary Journey
The Bible reading plan comes from here. I am using the Matthew Henry Commentary alongside my Bible (NIV). You can find my Day 1 Reflections here, and Day 2 here.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
Without having a name beside that quote, you are already thinking about Gandhi. Immediately after reading this quote, I often thought to myself, "How can I change the world? I am just one person." But I think I was looking at this quote too broadly. The world could simply mean the space around you and the people near you. It doesn't have to mean the people across the world you have never met, and may never meet. I think the key take away is that wherever you are, nothing is going to change unless if you set the change into motion.
And now you are probably wondering how this relates to Paul. I think you'll understand soon enough. I cannot say it any better than my commentary does. The following is a snippet of the commentary from Acts 17: 1-9 (p. 1704).
"In one sense it is true that wherever the gospel comes in its power to any place, to any soul, it works such a change there that it may be said to turn the world upside down. The love of the world is rooted out of the heart, and the way of the world contradicted in the life; so that the world is turned upside down there. They would have it thought that the preachers of the gospel were mischief makers wherever they came. Because they persuaded people to turn from idols to the living and true God, from malice and envy to love and peace, they ware charged with turning the world upside down, when it was only the kingdom of the devil in the world that they thus overturned."
The Gospel brings change and this was Paul's mission. He set out to share that Jesus is the Christ who brings salvation. He traveled from place to place with the intent to share the good news. He turned the world upside down in the places he went. We can create mischief in the world by living for God. When we say "no" to the world, we turn the world upside down in the place we are at. With one more step, we can affect another place. We will interact with others who also have the ability to turn the world upside down. Paul met many people during his travelings (Acts 17:34), and they most likely started to turn the world upside down where they lived.
Paul probably thought, "I'm just one person. How can I change the world?" But his teachings and testimony is still being heard today. I'm not saying that we are all going to be a Paul, but I am saying we all have the ability to change something around us.
Be a mischief maker... if only to say, "Mischief Managed."
Reading Nouwen this morning while walking the dog - yep multi-tasking special - thinking about the words we use and why we use them. That what we say and what we write affects all who hear or read is rather daunting to me. Do we speak and write carefully enough? Words can heal us in so many ways, and one small word closes our day to all possible good things. James was so wise about words and is Paul - use them to form loving relationships and the gospel is spread.
ReplyDelete