August 2023
Once again, our boy Paul goes into a foreign city to try to be effective for God. We may be tempted to dismiss this chapter in Acts. "He's going to teach at the synagogue, the Jews will get jealous, then he'll have to run away. We've heard it all before." We remember Damascus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Thessalonica, and Berea. When is Paul going to learn!? People are predicable... Perhaps we're tempted to feel the same about our own lives. We think we know how our spiritual efforts will go. We've seen it all before. If Paul went into Corinth thinking he knew what would happen, he'd be wrong! We should be careful presuming we know how our efforts will play out also.
Read 18:1-6
At first, it does look like the cycle is starting again. Roman Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in about 49 A.D. Claudius reigned from 41 - 54 A.D., so we know from history we're in about 50 A.D. Just four or five years later, Paul will be writing the letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians back to the members of the church he starts here. Paul has his strategy and he sticks to it.
We all do this sort of scenario planning. It helps us think about what could happen, anticipate issues and invest in things that will succeed. It's wise to learn from the past. For example, I once tried to put in custom shelving in my old house. I cut a hole in the plaster wall and put all the boards together myself. It should be easy right? In the end, it looked like art from Picasso. Nothing was quite a straight line and it was a bit mind bending to look at. "Never doing that again" is what I should have said to myself, but I didn't have to because my wife was already saying it out loud! This is a good example of learning from the past.
But we're all familiar with people who won't try new things based on fear. If you have kids, you've given them a fantastic dinner, only to have them object they won't like it. How do they know? They haven't tried it! This is frustrating to see people blocked from good things in life due to fear. Similarly, we may have fears stop us from trying spiritual things. Let's discuss what those may be.
DQ. When it comes to serving others or talking to them about God, what fears slow us down? Do you think you know how it will turn out?
We are afraid of looking stupid, not knowing the answer to hard questions or looking the fool for being into what others are not. We're scared of being boring or weird. Others may turn hostile, breaking the peace or ruining relationships. We're afraid of being hurt or rejected.
We know Paul was afraid from verse 9, God says to him, "do not be afraid any longer." This is a valid fear. People keep hurting Paul and scaring those he's working with. This is pretty foreign to me. I went to Phnom Penh to teach the Bible for a week. I was nervous walking the streets at night. I felt different, out of place, and vulnerable. Imagine a city like that turning against you. It would be terrifying!
Fear is a motivator to avoid things which could harm us. It affects works the same in our lives. Let's see how Paul's fears play out.
Read 18:7-11
Whoa! Sure, Paul was kicked out of the synagogue like usual, but he went NEXT DOOR and won the head leader of the synagogue and his family. God promises him a period of safety and good work to do. It reminds me of God's promise to us in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." This is an example of God doing this for Paul. God wanted Paul in Corinth, there were people to win.
Maybe God has a similar role for you. Perhaps you are in your neighborhood for a reason. Or among your family. Maybe God has plans for someone at your office. In Central Teaching, we recently learned about Phillip and his assignments. Some of these were short, one-time conversations like the Ethiopian. Others were long-term assignments like Cesarea. Think through your life and consider what some of the assignments God may have on your plate right now. These assignments are not always straightforward or predictable. Not being predictable has good and bad qualities to it. Let's discuss them.
DQ. What is frustrating about spiritual work being unpredictable? What is fun or satisfying about it?
Psychology has proven intermittent rewards are the best motivator. It's interesting spiritual work fits in this category. Serving others is frustrating as our impact does not always match our effort. Something which worked in the past, may not have an effect this time. It doesn't work like other areas of life, where results are more predictable. This forces us to trust God and give him more credit. It is fun since sometimes we do little effort but get a big reward, which wouldn't happen if it was deterministic. Any effort could win big. If ministry was repetitive it would get boring (imagine factory work). Yet it is also disappointing sometimes.
Things have gone alright for Paul, but surely the other shoe will drop. Let's see.
Read 18:12-17
After a year-and-a-half the Jews make their move again. Gallio, the younger brother of the famous philosopher Seneca, is the judge. He's known for his charm and wit and we see a bit of this in our account. Before Paul can even make a classic defense, the trial is thrown out. Gallio doesn't care about this internal squabbling and it is possible his legal precedent protects Christians until later being reversed by Emperor Nero. A big win for Paul. For once, his accusers are beaten, not him.
While we don't know for certain, it's likely this Sosthenes is the same mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:1 as a co-author of the letter. Poor Sosthenes, beaten for his failure and blamed by the crowd, would have good reason to reconsider his friends. Paul may have even walked over afterwards and extended a hand up off the floor. Paul was well acquainted with taking beatings.
What if Paul had skipped Corinth? He should have expected to be run out of town. It would have been reasonable to be wary. Instead, a whole church was won to Christ. They got to hear Jesus died to forgive them so they could have a healthy relationship with God and others. He won respected synagogue leaders and founded a passionate, if wild, church. We have two books in the New Testament to this group, filling out our theology on marriage, wisdom, division, sexual sin, love, spiritual gifts, and giving.
What if we skip out on our steps of faith due to fear? What would we miss? Certainly, we'd not accomplish as much of what God has for us. We'd have less purpose. We may grow bored, drift to other things, or give up on our faith. We want to avoid this.
DQ. How are we at risk of missing out? What could we do this week or month to make the most of our opportunities?
We should stick with things that work, like discipleship, peer evangelism, coaching our kids. Just because nothing amazing happened this week, doesn't mean the methods are ineffective. Since spiritual work is up to God, we need to ask him for opportunities and spiritual power. Try praying for some big things in your life, instead of small predictable asks. Plan out one instance of bravery with a neighbor or family member. Spiritual work is unpredictable, but like Paul in Corinth, sometimes it will be unpredictable in our favor.
"The Acts of the Apostles." The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Zondervan Publishing House. 1992.
Foust, Ben. "Corinth. Acts 18:1-18." Dwell Community Church. 06/10/2018. https://teachings.dwellcc.org/teaching/4398. Accessed 08/23/2023.
McCallum, Dennis. "Lessons from Corinth. Acts 18:1-22." Dwell Community Church. 03/20/2017. https://teachings.dwellcc.org/teaching/3761. Accessed 08/23/2023.