The Middle of Nowhere

Acts 8:26-40


This passage is cool. I like it for a lot of reasons.


In Acts 1, the disciples asked Jesus, '"Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?"


 ^7-8He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."'


Over the next seven chapters of Acts, the Church was born in Jerusalem... and it prospered mightily. But then Stephen was stoned to death and that set off a persecution of Christians that caused the Church to scatter. To where, you ask, did it scatter? Well, first to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1-25)... and then to the ends of the earth (the passage we're focusing on). In the view of first-century Jews, Greeks and Romans, Ethiopians lived literally at the southern edge of the earth... a.k.a., the ends of the world.


God wants us to preach the good news in our local context, but He never intends it to stay there. We are called to tell the whole world about salvation through Christ. But I think this text teaches us a lot about where we are to go, who we preach to... and how we are to be witness of our faith.


Where are we to go? Do we just pray for God's guidance and blindly, randomly place our finger on a globe... ready to go be missionaries for God wherever it lands? Of course not! God is not an impersonal being... He is clear and concise about when and where He calls us to go. The question is... are we willing to listen for His voice? And the follow-up question is... what is our answer when He calls? Philip clearly heard God's instruction to go out into the desert... basically out in the middle of nowhere... at midday when the heat is intense. Did it make sense to Philip? Probably not... but nevertheless, immediately he left a thriving ministry in Samaria and headed out to God-only-knows-where. What would your answer be if God told you to leave the city and start walking toward a hot, barren wasteland, with no further instructions? Would you start walking... or argue a little?


Who do we preach to? Do we stand on the street and wear a sandwich board that proclaims, "Repent or Die!"?? No, not unless we love to confirm what people already think of Christians in general... (wackos!). I am of the firm belief that we are not to try and shove Jesus down anyone's throat or "sell" anything... instead we are to wait on God and be ready to "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15). Where do we get the idea that our job is to - apart from specific instructions from God and/or spending time building relationships of trust - force feed unbelievers the story of Jesus (and warn of His coming wrath)? God tells us where... and He always tell us when.


How do we be witnesses? First things first... LISTEN! Don't talk... don't sell... don't try to formulate your uber-intellectual answer while they're talking to you... just shut up and listen to what they have to say. No really... shut up and listen! From there, ask yourself if they seem hungry for something better out of life than what they have experienced so far. Some people resist God because they've never had it presented in love and respect... but when their views are heard... it becomes clear they want more out of life. For those with ears to hear... the "more" is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that begins the healing process of their brokenness. For those who are not hungry... not seeking... not ready to experience radical transformation of the heart and mind... I promise you, they're not ready to hear the gospel. Oh, they may want to discuss it and debate it ad nauseam... but they don't want to let it soak in to their soul and breathe new life into spiritual death. 


The best part of all this is that a believer doesn't have to be a scholar to be a witness... he or she just has to have a story... a testimony of how God has radically gotten ahold of them. "I was blind, but now I see." 


How's your vision these days?