Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim! In recent weeks we have been talking about the ministry of Peter, who was imprisoned by Herod and yet was freed miraculously by the hand of God because a group of believers started praying. And it truly was an amazing miracle. But in our passage today we transition back to the ministry of Paul and Barnabas. You will remember that a great famine has broken out against the Church; and the newly founded church in Antioch (comprised mainly of Gentiles) has decided to send relief to the believers in Jerusalem. And Paul and Barnabas deliver that financial aid. But now that they have delivered the aid, it says here in…
Acts 12:25 (ESV)— 25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.
Chiefly Urban— And in today’s passage we will see how God once again uses them in an amazing way. But before we get too deep into the text, there is a shift in the geography of the Church that we need to recognize first. It is tempting for us to imagine the spread of the gospel as happening chiefly in the quiet rural villages of Palestine where Jesus himself had ministered. However, this is not the case. The early church actually was almost entirely urban.
Palestine Left Behind— [Historian Wayne A. Meeks writes that “within a decade of the crucifixion of Jesus, the village culture of Palestine had been left behind, and the Greco-Roman city became the dominant environment of the Christian movement”.]
The Geographical Spread— And so what happened is that [The church began in Jerusalem and then spread to other cities including Samaria, Damascus, Caesarea, and Antioch in Syria. At least forty different cities are named in Acts….In fact, the record given in Acts 13—28 is almost a review of ancient geography. About the year 56, the apostle Paul was able to write, “So that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). What a record!] [From Antioch {(where Paul and Barnabas ministered for about a year)}, Paul and his helpers {then} carried the gospel throughout the then-known world.] And [In these {next} two chapters {alone}, Dr. Luke described Paul’s ministry in six different cities, beginning and ending at Antioch.]
A Commissional Church— Now this shift ought to tell us something about the commissional nature of the Church. Whereas we often think the Church was surrounded by religious Jews (as during the ministry of Jesus) what we actually discover when we come to the text of Acts is that the Church was actually chiefly surrounded people who were in fact of different races, cultures, and who also held to regions beliefs not only not compatible with Christianity but in fact polar opposite to it. And so right off the bat we see that the early Church was very much like many Christians today are (and we in the Seattle area definitely are), surrounded by people very different from us. And just like it was then, so also it is now our duty to bring the light of the Gospel to them. And anywhere where the Church (Christ’s Church) truly exists, the Word of God will be spreading.
The Spirit of Missions— It’s as [That sainted missionary to India and Persia, Henry Martyn, once said, “The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, and the nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we must become.”]
Drawn Into Mission— And this is what was happening with Saul (Paul), Barnabas, and John as they drew near to Christ. Because of their relationship with him, they were drawn into missions and began to minister in Antioch and then (being called by the Spirit) they proceeded to take the Gospel to the rest of the Greco-Roman world. And so the Gospel is on the move!
A Shift in Leadership— Now here in this chapter see not only a shift in the geography of the Church, but also in which lead apostle is in the spotlight. Up until this point, Jerusalem had been the center of ministry and consequently Peter is seen to be the key apostle. But now, as Antioch in Syria becomes the new center of the Christian church (Acts 11:19ff.), we see that Peter begins to fade from the scene, as the primary focus shifts to Paul, who becomes the new leader of the Church in Antioch. And that is where our story today begins, at a prayer meeting in Antioch. By the way, it’s amazing in the book of Acts how many times great things in the Church are preceded by prayer meetings. That alone should say something to us. But let’s look at who’s in this prayer meeting. It says in…
Acts 13:1 (ESV)— 1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Some Chief Ministers— And so we see here that Luke lists five specific men who are ministering there at the church at Antioch: we have of course Barnabas (whom we have already become familiar with (Acts 4:36–37; 9:27; 11:22–26); we have Simeon who was nicknamed “Niger” (13:1), which seems to suggest that he may have been from Africa; we have [Lucius, who came from Cyrene and may have been one of the founders of the church in Antioch (Acts 11:20); Manaen, who was an intimate friend (or perhaps an adopted foster brother) of Herod Antipas, who had killed John the Baptist; and Saul (Paul), last on the list but soon to become first.]
Early Church Variety— Now what is amazing about this list of men is the variety we see here in the leadership of the Church. They are of different races, likely different skin colors, different nationalities, and (in some cases) vastly different backgrounds. And yet here they are, ministering together. And the reason the leadership here is diverse is because the Church has started doing what it is supposed to do; it is ministering to a diverse group of a people. And so their leadership team became reflective of the type of people they were ministering to. And that is a good sign of a healthy church, by the way; when the leadership of that church looks like the people it is supposedly ministering to. If you are a church in the middle of neighborhood filled with people of color, but you don’t have a person of color in your Church, then that may be a sign that there is a problem.
Do We Need To Be Ethnically Diverse?— Now there are some churches that fall into the trap of thinking that every church needs to be ethnically diverse. But that isn’t true. Nor is it even possible in many areas of the world. The goal of a Church ought not (in itself) to be ethnically diverse, but rather to look like the community it is ministering to. Your Church membership ought to reflect the demographics of you community; and consequently your Church leadership ought to reflect the demographics of your congregation. And what stands out in this passage is the reality that there is a diversity in the leadership, which means there is a diversity in the congregation, which means that the Church is ministering to the wide range of cultures reflected in its environment. And that was an unbelievable and awesome thing to see. But one thing which this hints at, but I think needs to be stated explicitly (for clarity’s sake) is that the Church didn’t sit down and say, “Hey, we need to make sure that our leadership team is ethnically diverse.” We need to make sure that our Church is comprised of a certain number of people from every demographic.” No, they simply ministered to all, welcomed all, loved all; and the body of believers naturally came to reflect the demographics of the surrounding population.
How Racism Dies— They valued diversity, but that wasn’t their primary focus. Their focus was simply on loving everyone equally, just as Christ had loved them. And equal treatment of others flowed out of that. And that is why racism will never die in and through our government passing more and more equality laws. Now those might be helpful at times; but (let’s be honest) the government has no power to actually deal with the real issue; and that is our hearts. Racism will only die when each of us has allowed Christ to touch us in the realm of our hearts and to create in us a love for others that is reflective of His love for us.
Prophets— Now of this diverse group of leaders it says that [These men were serving as “prophets and teachers”] in the local church. But what did these roles entail? Well, whenever we think of prophets, we often think of people who are telling us the future. But that would not be an accurate definition of the Biblical concept of prophet. Yes, prophets did at times make prophecies concerning future events (as we saw in Acts 11:27-30 with Agabus, who had predicted the coming of the great famine). But most often prophets were more “forth-tellers” than “foretellers”. Their chief role was to help [lay the foundation for the church as they proclaimed the Word of God (Eph. 2:20; 1 Cor. 14:29–32).]
Teachers— Now teachers in the early church were those who helped ground the new believers in the doctrines of the Christian faith (2 Tim. 2:2). What do we believe? Why do we believe it? Helping new believers answer those questions and be able to articulate those answers is of key importance to the health and vibrancy of the Church. And it was something these Christians in Antioch desperately needed; because many of them didn’t come from a Jewish background; and so they needed to be taught the basics.
Ready for Gentile Ministry— And Saul/Paul was uniquely gifted for this because not only was he a highly educated Jews, but he was a highly educated Jew from Tarsus. And the Jewish students in Tarsus studied a lot of Greek literature as well as Jewish literature; so Saul was able to communicate Hebrew concepts to a Gentile audience using language and illustrations they would understand. And God had always intended to use Saul in a special way for this ministry. You will remember from Acts 9:15 that God had called Saul right at the time of his conversion to be a minister to the Gentiles (see also 21:17-21). But Saul had to go through a period of preparation, which we talked about before. However, now he is ready and God meets these Church leaders in the midst of their prayer meeting, initiating the next phase of their ministry (which is, by the way, how things always ought to be done; saturated in prayer and at the leading of the voice and hand of God). And next week we will see what comes out of this prayer meeting.
Burning For The Lost— But this week, I want to encourage you to also draw near to the Lord in prayer; because prayer is what aligns us to the Spirit of God. And when we become conformed to His image, we will have burning in our hearts the desire to see lost people experience the healing touch of Jesus Christ. And when we bring them Christ, we will have the glory of witnessing the chains of racism, hatred, hopelessness, and every other wicked thing break and fall away. And so let’s commit ourselves to always be sharing with others the way of Jesus. Let’s do so. Amen.
More Episodes
Get this podcast on your
phone, FREE
