Acts 21::Stop or Go...Stop or Go

Acts 21 in the Message and TNIV translations

Each one of us reads the bible with our own presuppositions.  We can't help it.  If you've been around church for very long, you will have to sift through your own ideas to get to the purity of the text.  Today is one of the difficult days for me.  Everything in me wants to believe that Paul was so committed to the calling God had placed on his life that he was willing to go through beatings and imprisonment to see it accomplished, and I think he was.  But there is another part of me that struggles with the text I read today.  In verse 4, Luke tells us "Their (the Tyrenian believers) message to Paul, from insight given by the Spirit, was "Don't go to Jerusalem."  In verse 10-12, we are told that a prophet from Judea named Abagus told Paul, "This is what the Holy Spirit says:  The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to Godless believers."  When those traveling with Paul heard this, they begged him to stay, but he wouldn't budge.

Now, some people will say that the Paul probably didn't trust the Tyrenian believers to really hear from the Holy Spirit and that Abagus wasn't telling him not to go, but simply warning him of the dangers ahead.  Others would say that the Tyrenian believers were not saying to abort the mission, but that through the Spirit of unity with Paul, they too were in essence warning Paul about the dangers.  Still others would say that Paul disobeyed the Spirit of God in this instance.

What do you think?  What have you been told?  Is there a difference?

As of right now, here are my thoughts, but as one of my seminary professors used to tell us, "my feet aren't in cement on this one."  I think Paul let his vision get ahead of His voice.  Had Paul received a calling from God?  Absolutely.  Had Paul been faithful up to this point?  Probably so (not completely sure with the whole John Mark thing).  I believe that Paul's personality and the success he had been experiencing may have clouded his ears.  The text says, "Don't go to Jerusalem" and that those words were given to them by the Spirit.  It doesn't say, "It's going to be hard in Jerusalem."  I'm taking the words as they are.  In the next encounter, I can buy that Abagus wasn't saying the Spirit told him Paul shouldn't go to Jerusalem, but he does give him a pretty stern warning.  Was the word about "the man who owns this belt" an indication that the Holy Spirt has a changed mind now?  Or does he know Paul is set and now he sends out a more graphic warning.  Not sure.

There is a third instance that pushes me toward my conclusion of disobedience.  When Paul gets to Jerusalem, he isn't completely honest.  He cuts corners here...at the urging of the church leaders, too!  He sneaks into the group of men who have taken the vow of ritual purification.  When he pays their expenses, then everyone concludes that he is one of them and is just as scrupulous in his reverence for the laws of Moses.  But he is not!  Maybe it's just me but it seems like they are manipulating the circumstances to deceive the zealots so they won't attack Paul.

So here is the deal.  Paul was not Jesus - he sinned before meeting Christ and he sinned after meeting Christ.  This chapter is important to me because it warns me of a great danger I have to avoid as a church leader.  I cannot be so committed to my vision that I miss the Master's voice.  When I am, I miss the Spirit, I ignore my friends and it leads me to do things I shouldn't do.  This is good for me because I also see that God is big enough to still work His plan, in spite of my disobedience.  I may miss the Spirit's prompting, I may disregard my friends and I may do stupid things, but God still has a plan that is bigger than my mistakes.  He will continue to build Himself in me and His plan in us.  I have to be sensitive to this and keep my eyes and ears open as I seek Father.  I cannot assume that His directions won't change over the course of my life.  If they do, I want to hold my vision so lightly that I can accept His change without too much questioning.

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this one.  You are always free to disagree with my conclusions.  My feet aren't in cement, remember?

Acts 17 :: Mr. Peterson, You Let Me Down Here

Acts 17 in The Message and New American Standard Translations


Most of you know that my favorite translation of the bible is Eugene Peterson's The Message.  I love it, I really do, but every once in a while, he lets me down with his translation of a text.  I am not a bible scholar, but I have spent a lot of time reading, studying and even selling bibles.  I know that if I want the most literal translation of the bible, go to the New American Standard Version; if I want the most popular translation, go to the New International Version (if you want politically correct, TNIV), if I want pretty but confusion, go to the King James Version (less pretty, less confusing - New King James).  If you want an easy to read, and fun translation, go to The Message.  Mr. Peterson was a pastor and translated the text from a pastor's perspective.  His goal was to make the text as readable as possible for the everyday person - that's us!  All that said, I have included the most "fluid" translation along with the most "wooden" translations for us to read this morning.

I typically want to post my thoughts because that's just what they are: "my thoughts."  I just want to help get conversations started surrounding the text at hand.  Today is no different, but I'm also including something that to me is extremely pointed in light of our church structure - and to me, worth noting.

Chapter 17 could easily be one of my favorite chapters in the bible.  I love the way Luke recounts the journeys of Paul.  In my mind, I feel like I work for the first-century TMZ.  I could stand up in the cubicles and report to Harvey Levin that "I saw Paul going to Lydia's house again...I saw Paul with Silas and Timothy in Berea teaching to the Jews...I saw Paul in Athens explaining that we can know God."

*Note that Paul's teaching is always centered around the scriptures and explaining to the people that why Jesus is the Messiah, why he had to die, and what his resurrection means for them.

In verse 22, Paul delivers a pivotal message for the Greeks and for us, I believe.  He starts by acknowledging their serious approach to religion, then notes that they have set up one shrine for "the god nobody knows."  There were some things in Greek mythology that were unexplainable - and for those, they covered their bases and made an offering shrine to one god to cover all misses.  Then he rocks the house.  He explains that this unknown god is the Knowable God, that He doesn't live in temples built by human hands nor does He need us to serve Him, as if He needed something.  God is near and does not play hide-and-seek with us.  We live and move in Him, and we cannot get away from Him.  This is more teaching that God does not intend for us to compartmentalize Him into our nice neat places.  He is a consuming God that invades all of our lives when we choose to follow Him.  Then we get to where I think our modern translations slip a little.  In verse 26, Paul says, "He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find him" (NASB).

God created us to live on all the face of the earth, and he determines our appointed times and the boundaries of our habitation.  He sets our time and our place.  We think we choose where we live and where we grow up, but God has determined those so that we may seek and find Him!  Our neighbors have been determined to live next door to us at this time, so they may seek and find Him!  Our co-workers work next to us at this time in this place, so they may seek and find Him!  If we believe that God is personal, that He is near and not far, that He cares about us and has a plan for us, we cannot miss this point.  God is more active than just creating a playground big enough for us to roam around in and call it earth, playing finding games with God all day.  For the Greeks this was profound - this God was different.  This God was involved.  This God wanted to be known.  This God wanted to be found.  This God came to us!  This God now involves us in the seeking and finding for others!

How does knowing this change the way we live?  How does believing this with our action change us?  Did another part of the text get you jazzed like this one did me?

Mr. Peterson, I love you, but you lost the punch of verse 26, in my opinion.  For all that you've done for my interest and connection to the text, I will let this one slide and simply make my own little footnote.