Acts 11.19–30

 Acts 11.19–30

This passage begins and ends with Saul. In verse 19 we have a flashback to the death of Stephen and the attacks on the church, which Saul led. The passage ends with Saul and Barnabas taking an offering from the Jerusalem church in anticipation of the coming famine. We see a picture of God’s grace as this vicious and dangerous persecutor becomes a tender servant leader of the church.

There’s something else noted quietly in this passage. We typically identify Saul and Barnabas as the first missionaries. In one sense, that is true, but that version of mission history might need some modifications. The disciples became a community well known in Antioch, so much so that they were known as “Christians” for the first time. Antioch is 300 miles more or less from Jerusalem. The gospel had spread far and wide as believers took the message with them, but verse 20 indicates an intentional effort by unnamed missionaries to travel for the purpose of proclaiming the good news. They apparently did this without large supporting structures, organizational plans, or sending institutions. While our missionary organizations have great value, they are supplements, not substitutes, to the heart-driven disciple who would serve. The reliance on organization may actually keep us tied down. It seems that we are unable to move till we have every resource in place, with a five-year plan, and the approval of at least two committees. In our effort to reform the organization of the church and restore New Testament Christianity, we have lost the critical concept that every disciple is in some way an evangelist and a disciple maker. The preponderance of professionals to manage every aspect of the church doesn’t make us more effective. Rather, it neutralizes the vast majority of workers and believers and burdens the church with a bureaucracy that begins to shift his focus from disciple-making to preservation of the institution.

 "Lord, make me an evangelist in my world. AMEN"