Acts 11 - Speak Truth

I think it is no coincidence that just one chapter after we see an incredible move of God in the conversion of Cornelius and his household, we immediately see resistance from men. We immediately see concerns and questions and arguments arise. We as people can be so stupid sometimes! Why can’t we just see God move, rejoice in it, and join Him in that move rather than acting like God needs to check with us first before He does something? It amazes me for all the times Peter stuck his foot in his mouth throughout the gospels, in the book of Acts he has become incredibly wise and knows exactly what to say and how to say it. I wonder what changed; actually I don’t wonder I know exactly what it was. In the gospels he was a man trying to follow after Jesus. In the book of Acts, after the Day of Pentecost, he became a man, empowered by the Holy Spirit, trying to follow Jesus. And, as a result of living by the Spirit, Peter is able to handle a situation like this without getting mad or frustrated like I would have.

So, Peter proceeds to tell the other apostles and those that were taking issue with what Peter had done the whole story, about the vision he received, the vision Cornelius received, and then what God did when Peter spoke the words of truth to Cornelius’ household. A couple things convict me and challenge me about this passage, and they are becoming recurring themes as far as what God is speaking to me about through the book of Acts.

First of all, as always, all Peter speaks is the truth. He recounts for them the exact events, how they unfolded, what he said, what Cornelius said, what the angel said, and what he saw. He didn’t dress it up and make it flowery and beautiful for the apostles in an effort to manipulate their reaction, he simply recounted the truth. He knew what happened, he knew what the truth was, and he understood that either they were going to accept the truth or deny it, and it wasn’t his job to convince them one way or another. Convincing people of the truth that God offers grace and forgiveness to those who call on His name is not our job. Our job is to share it, to preach it, to live it, but it’s not our job to sell it to people. It’s easy to see how people or churches have slipped into the trap of changing or watering down the message of the gospel in order to get more people to accept the message. Unfortunately, it’s a product of our culture today. If someone doesn’t like something, you change it until you get it how they want it to be. And, far too many of us “Christians” have decided that we are going to customize God’s Word to fit what our desires are and what works for us. We need to stand on the truth, all of it, and allow people to make a choice of whether or not they’re going to accept it, all of it. Peter stood there and told them what happened, the truth, and left it up to them of whether or not they would accept it. I need to do the same thing.

The other thing about Peter’s presentation of what happened is that he isn’t afraid to let the other apostles into his decision making process. He shares with them in verse 17 the question he asked himself and allowed them to see that it wasn’t some snap decision that he hadn’t thought about. He observed what was happening, obviously had some of the same questions run through his mind, and came out with the following question, “how could I possibly hinder God?” The apostles were able to see that Peter wrestled with it as well but came to the conclusion that this was obviously God and if God was doing it, if God was a part of it, he should be too. I pray that I am willing to take the same approach as Peter did, to see God moving in a way that doesn’t make sense to me or in a way that I wouldn’t do it, to rejoice in that movement and join it, saying “how could I possibly hinder God?” And, when I am having conversations with people about things that God is doing that might be controversial or different than usual, that I would be as wise as Peter in how I direct those conversations. Rather than just saying this is what happened and this is how it is, with a likelihood of alienating people, to allow them to see my decision making process and how God moved me in that situation. Wisdom abounds from Peter!

Verse 18 is incredible to me. Leaders have to make choices, and Godly leaders make the right ones. This group of apostles was faced with an opportunity, once again, to hold on tight to the reigns and maintain control over this new movement. They were faced with that battle that we all fight at some point in our lives, are we going to let God work, no matter what that means or where that takes us, or are we going to pull back and hold onto what we know and understand? I love it that they heard all of this and became silent. The text doesn’t say for how long, but because it was noted I assume it was at least a few minutes, if not more. I can just imagine the turmoil and the wrestling going on in their hearts but then also just the smiles that would begin to creep onto their faces as God worked in them and reassured them that this was His work and His plan and that this event was something to be celebrated. I love the next phrase, “Then they glorified God”. These are Godly people, Godly leaders. They saw God move and decided to join Him in that movement, and they immediately gave Him all the honor and glory and praise, what an awesome scene! They didn’t turn to Peter and tell him he did a great job, they didn’t pat themselves on the back for their leadership of the church, they simply glorified God.

The church at Antioch was one planted out of the scattering of the followers of Jesus after the persecution that resulted from the incident with Stephen, and it was a place where the message of grace spread quickly. It is well known that the best advertising a church can do is word of mouth, and the word of mouth was very positive about the church at Antioch. It is a testament to those in the church living through the Spirit in the way that God designed them to, by loving on people, by preaching the Word, and by acting in a way that reflected their Savior. The church in Jerusalem hears about it and sends Barnabas to go check it out. I’m encouraged by the fact that when Barnabas gets there he saw the grace of God and encouraged them. He didn’t walk in and start telling them what they were doing wrong, he didn’t arrive and begin giving advice on how things should be done, he just came in and encouraged them. One thing I feel God pushing on me is to be more encouraging, to be a little bit more like Barnabas, to churches, to other pastors, to other believers, and to non-believers. I’m not very good at expressing my feelings of appreciation and that needs to change!

Barnabas is tabbed as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” For an eleven word tagline, that’s a pretty good one. One of the areas of focus for me as I’ve read the book of Acts is what it looks like to be full of the Holy Spirit, and that is a tagline I want to have attached to my life and my character. Again, not for any sort of recognition or praise from men, but I long for it to be the truth!

I think it’s interesting that Barnabas went and got Saul to come teach the church at Antioch. One important characteristic of a leader is to understand your strengths and weaknesses, to know when you are capable of handling something and when you’re not. I don’t know for sure if this is why Barnabas went and got Saul, but it makes me wonder if he realized that this group was getting big and he needed some help, so he wasn’t afraid or too proud to go and get someone to come help him. And, like we all should be today, if you’ve got access to someone with the zeal and the passion of a guy like Paul, why wouldn’t you go ask him to come preach the Word.

That’s it for me for Acts 11. What an awesome journey this has been so far. For those of you following along, I hope God is moving in you in incredible ways as well. I am committed to continuing to blog every day, even as I go back to working full-time plus, and I pray that each of you will continue to push through as we work through the rest of this incredible book!

Father I thank you so much for the challenges I’ve received from your Word in these last 11 days. I look forward to what’s yet to come, for what is around the corner that I don’t have a clue about, both in the Scriptures and in life. I look forward to whatever lies ahead because I know I’ve got you to lead me and walk me through it. Father I pray for each one that is going through this journey in the book of Acts this month as well and pray that you would give them a challenge or a truth that speaks directly to them each day like you’ve done for me. God you’re awesome!