TEXT TO REFLECT
When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.” ACTS 23:12-15
REFLECT
The vow that the Jews in this passage had made was like a suicide pact. They were in effect saying, “Either we kill Paul, or we will starve ourselves to death!” But what had inspired such zeal, or such hatred, that a group of sincere, God-honouring Jews would bind themselves to such a vow?
It all began when Paul was seen in the Temple in the company of an Ephesian Gentile. The Jews who had seen him there were from Asia. They immediately assumed that Paul had brought an uncircumcised Gentile into the Temple, thus defiling God’s Holy place. What ensued then was pandemonium: [T]the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.” Acts 21:27-30.
This was mass hysteria over a mistaken observation by a few. Yet it had riled up the entire city, and nearly caused a riot of Jews baying for blood. The crowd stopped for a brief moment to listen to Paul tell his story, since he spoke to them in Hebrew and began by detailing his Jewish credentials. But when he mentioned that the Holy Spirit had sent him to reach Gentiles with the Gospel, they began to demand his death again.
What caught my attention as I read the assigned passage for the day, was the murderous frenzy that the Jews had so easily fallen into. All it took was misplaced zeal by just a few Jews, a desperate accusation that Paul had defiled God’s laws, and a testimony of God’s expansive love. And the entire city was turned topsy turvy with zealous Jews vowing to kill at all cost.
RELATE
Sadly, Christians today also fall prey easily to a culture of condemnation without giving fair dialogue to proponents of ‘opposite’ views. Touch a few hot buttons and we are quickly riled up. And we take sides, and we are quick to condemn ‘the other side’ without patiently and diligently ascertaining and discerning if God could be speaking His expansive love to us.
I grew up in an era when charismatic fervour was just being introduced to Singapore churches. I remember the chaos, the hatred, and the resultant church splits that took place. The church that I grew up in was badly affected as it split into three factions: the conservatives (or anti-charismatics who were then labelled), the ‘loud’ charismatics, and the ‘quiet’ charismatics (or closet charismatics). Few bothered to listen to each other, and each fought to stake their preferred form of worship. I witnessed church leaders come close to fist fights at the church car park after a particularly heated leadership debate. It was indeed a difficult time for our church. And all because God wanted to pour His love into the church through the extraordinary outpouring of His Spirit. And because the church was not prepared to listen and lovingly discern what God was doing.
I was pastoring a large church when the LGBTQ furore hit its hardest in Singapore churches. When petitions for and against criminalizing homosexuality were taken up by various camps. Everyday I received petitions, arguments, and accusations against the ‘opponents’ from either side of the fence. I witnessed a very beloved theologian being ostracized and ‘cancelled’ by the Christian community because he stood for justice and compassion for the gay community. I heard from my gay friends how they were no longer welcomed in churches though they loved the Lord. I heard stories about atrocities from the other side as well. Activists from both sides of the church aisles had become enemies; each was formulating stronger and stronger arguments against the other side, and no one was listening to each other.
It is important that we patiently listen to each other, even though ‘the other’ view seems taboo to us. We need to ask if persons from each ‘camp’ have received the Holy Spirit, and how the Holy Spirit has worked in each of our lives. We need to carefully discern if indeed God has yet again poured out His expansive love on His church. We are a small church and relatively insignificant in the arena of Christian politics. But if as individuals we could refuse to join in the fray, and instead just listen compassionately to each other and how God is working in each other’s lives, perhaps we will discern that God has yet again poured out His love upon the church.
REST
A new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this shall all know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another;
by this shall all know that you are my disciples:
if you have love one for another.
From the hymn A New Commandment by Roy Crabtree.
Chiu Ming Li
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