16One day on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl. She had a spirit in her that gave her the power to tell the future. By doing this she made a lot of money for her owners. 17The girl followed Paul and the rest of us and kept yelling, "These men are servants of the Most High God! They are telling you how to be saved."
18This went on for several days. Finally, Paul got so upset that he turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I order you to leave this girl alone!" At once the evil spirit left her.
19When the girl's owners realized that they had lost all chances for making more money, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into court. 20They told the officials, "These Jews are upsetting our city! 21They are telling us to do things we Romans are not allowed to do."
22The crowd joined in the attack on Paul and Silas. Then the officials tore the clothes off the two men and ordered them to be beaten with a whip. 23After they had been badly beaten, they were put in jail, and the jailer was told to guard them carefully. 24The jailer did as he was told. He put them deep inside the jail and chained their feet to heavy blocks of wood.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. 26Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.
27When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. 28But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! No one has escaped."
29The jailer asked for a torch and went into the jail. He was shaking all over as he knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. 30After he had led them out of the jail, he asked, "What must I do to be saved?"
31They replied, "Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! This is also true for everyone who lives in your home."
32Then Paul and Silas told him and everyone else in his house about the Lord. 33While it was still night, the jailer took them to a place where he could wash their cuts and bruises. Then he and everyone in his home were baptized. 34They were very glad that they had put their faith in God. After this, the jailer took Paul and Silas to his home and gave them something to eat.
35The next morning the officials sent some police with orders for the jailer to let Paul and Silas go. 36The jailer told Paul, "The officials have ordered me to set you free. Now you can leave in peace."
37But Paul told the police, "We are Roman citizens, [d] and the Roman officials had us beaten in public without giving us a trial. They threw us into jail. Now do they think they can secretly send us away? No, they cannot! They will have to come here themselves and let us out." 38When the police told the officials that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, the officials were afraid. 39So they came and apologized. They led them out of the jail and asked them to please leave town. 40But Paul and Silas went straight to the home of Lydia, where they saw the Lord's followers and encouraged them. Then they left.
Tom Petty sings "I won't back down. You can stand me up at the gates of hell but I won't back down". It's a human emotion that comes when we've reached the limits of our patience. Most of us, as Christians would try not to be caught uttering such unsanctified bravado. Even at that, standing firm is easy to say..and hard to do.
Unless you're the Apostle Paul. And, I'm sure there's a lesson here.
Here we see Paul at the limits of his patience. First...he gets fed up with the little slave girl and demands the spirit of divination leave her. Bada bing...she's out of a job! For telling the truth, no less. then...after he gets beaten and thrown into prison he refuses to leave until he gets an apology...from the city officials.
By the way, he wasn't beaten for his religious fervor, but for the financial impact of his actions.
I don't think this is arrogance or narcissism. I think this is Paul saying "you cannot treat me disrespectfully or dismissively just because you don't like my faith. I have not given up the right to be treated properly.
Often we take abuse and attribute it to "suffering for Jesus". Often times our willingness to endure it only encourages bad behavior and establishes precedent for future abuse against other Christians. Paul certainly withstood lots of abuse. Just not this time.
What have you put up with lately that just seemed wrong? Maybe it's nothing more than a dismissive attitude that marginalizes us at work. I talked with a woman who complained about a six foot Iranian flag in her work mate's cubicle. She was told to mind her own business. However, when the workmate said she felt intimidated by this woman's own display of a small American flag she was ordered to remove it. When she refused, she was fired.
Enough is enough! Then again...I could get beat down for it. Maybe that's why I put up with it.
I wonder if I'm confident enough to be this assertive. I'll bet I would be if the Holy Spirit prompted me to be. I should listen a little closer. In case we need to be reminded...assertively defending his rights didn't seem to hinder Paul's evangelistic results.
Live boldly out there today...
No comments:
Post a Comment