Raving Fans of Jesus
The early church was very verbal about their faith. Christians in the first century constantly shared about Jesus in the public arena. They were raving fans of the Galilean carpenter. They told everyone who would listen about who Jesus was and what he did. They spoke up loudly and often.
This is remarkable given the fact that they were given a gag order by the religious authorities of the day. Three times in Acts 1-8 they are ordered by very powerful people to keep quiet, to not speak of Jesus in public. The message was clear: Back off and keep your mouths shut!
This was more than a suggestion. There were punishments attached to sharing a verbal witness. Christians were thrown in prision, stoned, flogged, dragged from their homes, and generally persecuted for speaking out about Jesus.
Yet these heroic Christians would not be silenced. Day after day, in the temple courts and house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 5.42)
Constrast this with our situation in the 21st century. Today, with hardly any consequences, save a little risk of embarassment, we hardly ever share a verbal witness for Jesus. Most Christians can be motivated to use their hands and feet for Jesus, but very few are willing to use their mouth for Jesus. Boldness in speech is in short supply. Most Christians are self-silenced.
Are you?
What is it that holds you back from sharing with your friends what you have found in Jesus? What are you afraid of that keeps you from speaking up? And what did the early Christians have that we don't have? How can we recover the boldness that characterized the early days of the church when the Gospel spread like wildfire?
Why This Blog
Every Monday I will be summarizing my Sunday message and asking for your feedback. I invite your comments, insights, best practices, critiques, and life experiences. What we do on Sunday is monologue. We grow best when we dialogue.
To post a comment: click on the title of the article or the # of comments button. Scroll down to the bottom and add your comment.
To post a comment: click on the title of the article or the # of comments button. Scroll down to the bottom and add your comment.
About Me
- Jeff Long
- I am the pastor of a great church in Farmington, NY. I am a long distance biker and I love the Buffalo Bills. I am passionate about guiding our church to make a difference in local, regional, and global ways.
I just finished reading a book about the life of Luke, the author of Luke and Acts. It was written by the authors of the Left Behind series and I thought it was a great read. The theme of your sermon this week was very alive in this book. Miss all you FUMCers. Hope you have a great winter.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we too often assume, in our society, that most people know about Jesus. People don't perceive Christianity as a radical new idea, like they did in the early church, so perhaps some of the excitement of sharing it is lost.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could regain that excitement if we focus on sharing who Jesus is to us right now, not just a history lesson from the New Testament. The average American may have a general knowledge of who Jesus is and what Christianity says about Him, but they don't have a clue about the amazing things He is doing in my life unless I tell them about it.
I know that I struggle with this a lot. I can be rather reserved at times, and especially with people I don't know. I also am often too busy going about my business to be bothered with talking to people. I think I need to start viewing people outside the faith the way Jesus does - as lost sheep that He wants to bring home. I don't often think about this when looking at a person and I believe it would change my everyday encounters - at the grocery store, my neighbors, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is just a request away. Lord revive us to the boldness that characterized the early days of the church when the Gospel spread like wildfire. As we heard tonight at prayer meeting, make the "resident" Holy Spirit the "President" of our lives, fill us and "Thrust us forward" in boldness as you did in days of Old.
ReplyDelete