A Risky But Respectful Witness

Shift Your Focus… Someone once quipped, “if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” That is a great question, really.  And convicting!

In Paul’s case, he was guilty as charged. Everywhere he went—Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens—the proclamation of his faith stirred things up and got him into a fair amount of trouble. Of course, in each of those places his preaching brought conviction, and many people placed their faith in Jesus, but it also made a few people mad; mad enough to have Paul beaten, imprisoned, dragged into court, disparaged and run out of town on a rail.

Now keep in mind that Paul didn’t set out to be irritating to people. Wherever he went, he was respectful—something modern day Christians should thoughtfully consider. He didn’t disparage the local gods. He didn’t trash their way of life.  Rather, the text tells us that, “he reasoned with them.” (Acts 17:2) He just respectfully shared with them the truth of the Gospel and the reason for his hope. It was Paul’s witness, not his weirdness that earned him the charge of “turning the world upside down.”

It is probably not likely, if you are like me, that this charge has been brought against you. That’s too bad, isn’t it? It is too bad our reasonable and respectful witness hasn’t turned our respective worlds upside down. On the one hand, it is too bad that we are so afraid of making people uncomfortable or not being liked that we shy away from seizing the opportunity to tell people the only story in the world that will change their eternal destiny. On the other hand, it is too bad some believers feel as if they have to yell and argue and demean the “local gods”—our politicians and our culture.

Whether it is spiritual shyness or spiritual obnoxiousness, perhaps we can change that track record today. If we are open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he will make sure we have opportunity to share our faith with a spiritual seeker today. He will make sure that we have just the right words to say, and he will also make sure that their hearts have been prepared to hear our message.

They may or may not receive our words, but that’s not our call. Our call is simply to share in reasonable and respectful ways. The Holy Spirit will work on the hearts of our listeners. But as we are faithful to persistently declare God’s Good News, one thing will be sure: We will turn somebody’s world upside down.

And if that can be said of you, “those who have turned the world upside down have come here too,” I would wear that as a badge of honor!

“Jesus Christ did not say, ‘Go into the world and tell the world that it is quite right.’” ~C.S. Lewis 

Prayer… Lord, may my faith get me into a little trouble today.