Thoughts From Acts 16 - Part 1

  Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.   Acts 16:1-5

        The issue at the Council of Jerusalem was what was necessary for salvation and the answer was faith in Jesus. The law was not necessary for salvation however it was necessary to get along with Jews who held to the law from birth and were transitioning to the New Covenant. Circumcision was left out of the list of concessions come up with by the council, but in this case, Paul thought it was still important enough to his mission that he had Timothy circumcised. All his trips started in the Jewish synagogues to unbelieving Jews and he didn't want them not listening to what he had to say because he was travelling with an uncircumcised Greek. So, the irony is that Paul is travelling to churches to tell them that they didn't need to be circumcised, yet he has Timothy circumcised before they go. Why? Because circumcision didn't mean anything but if it got in the way of people listening to the gospel, then do it. Paul has said elsewhere that he became all things to all men so the gospel could be preached. This is what he meant.

      I often wonder how would people know if Timothy was circumcised or not? Did they follow him into the bathroom? Did they take public baths? Maybe they would ask Paul, "Is he circumcised?" Paul would have wanted to be able to tell the truth, so he anticipated that question and had Timothy go through the painful procedure. Timothy's willingness to endure pain was encouraging to Paul who was abandoned by John Mark in his first trip maybe because the trip got too difficult.

      Is there any application today? If it was to get the message from the council to believers listened to - maybe. Maybe a pastor needs to wear a suit and tie to preach that you don't need to wear a suit and tie. Maybe we need to preach from the King James, have a pipe organ and hymnbooks to preach that we shouldn't be tied to traditions that make us culturally irrelevant.

    Are there things we need to cut off to reach unbelievers? Maybe politics would be one. Maybe getting vaccinated would be another? How would they know - they might ask. Maybe public schooling would be one? Maybe familiarizing ourselves with the culture rather than isolating ourselves from it? Here's a tough one for me - not attacking evolutionary mindset or wokeness or homosexuality. Maybe just preach Christ crucified and risen and saving faith and let God do the rest in their lives.

     Let's not give Paul all the credit here, Timothy went through the pain. Are you willing to go through pain so the gospel can be preached? Most church members won't even leave home to go on a mission much less endure suffering. And another question - are you raising Timothies? It's your job not the church's. His mother and father had him ready to go. That's our example as parents and grandparents.