In this day and age we live in a global world where exchange of news, information and ideas crosses country boundaries in a matter of milliseconds. It is not like days passed when you waited for a courier or had to travel great distances to experience a different people and their culture. You can do this with "a click of a button". This was not so in the days of Paul the Apostle. And therefore the general population of a community or country went about their daily lives with limited or no information except that which was exchanged in their local marketplace. Paul's standing as a Jew and his teachings were therefore misconstrued.
In Acts chapter 21 we saw Paul being attacked by the Jews because information started to spread about him alleged speaking against the Jewish laws. The commander of the Roman garrison had to mobilize hundreds of soldiers to keep the peace. In chapter 22 Paul is brought for interrogation by the commander after the Jews started to riot again. The commander was obviously not very familiar with the issues. He only knew that it had something to do with the beliefs of the Jewish people. He was a Roman not by birth and treasured it.
The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
He wanted to do what is right. But the crowd presented a problem and he lacked information to consider the matter. He almost acts counter to the law until Paul says he is a Roman citizen. The situation is tense in Jerusalem and he was facing a crowd influenced by the information they were getting in their local marketplace. Paul relayed his personal experience with God and shared how he was compelled to leave Jerusalem after returning from Damascus. Unfortunately, the crowd was already influenced by the earlier information and were not ready to listen to Paul's full testimony.
Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’
It is clear that the first thing that needs to be done in the global marketplace is the kingdom message must go out with clarity and relevance to each community and country. People treasure their citizenship and their local community. Resistance to the Gospel must be overcome with the sharing of information. We are able to this in most communities through the Internet. More needs to be done to counter the misinformation. Every follower of Jesus needs to share their personal story of their journey with Jesus Christ.
Father, as I continue to share the gospel in this space help the message find a place in each reader's heart. Let them not be ignorant and do irrational things because of a lack of information. Amen!
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