THE LIVING CHURCH
Meditations in the Acts of the Apostles
Acts 21:17-36

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IN THESE verses we come face to face with the power of religious opinion and custom and how difficult it is to reform. Also we see how easily the devil can manipulate religious custom to his own ends. Let us notice how easily ill formed judgements, not according to truth, can be made when people are not willing to listen, learn, accept, and love. There had been a great deal of talk and gossip in the Jerusalem church concerning Paul and his ministry. Most of it, if not all, was hearsay. Yet judgements had been made, and there seemed to be little desire to hear Paul's side of the controversy or be accepting of him. Neither was there any real humility in understanding that however ancient the Jewish religious opinions were, they may be wrong. When church people gossip together about grievances it only engenders damaging and unproductive heat.

Against this background, how different is the mind and action of the apostle Paul. Paul's willingness, in his action to take part in the purification practice of the Jews, was to be conciliatory and not offend the consciences of others. He had right on his side, yet he was willing, where he felt it was best and that it did not hinder the truth, to meet the scruples of others even though he knew them to be unnecessary and misleading. It would be a wonderful thing if there were more people like this in the Christian church.

However this action of Paul in accommodating himself to the scruples of others raises the whole issue and question of when and how we stand for the truth as we see it. Paul had truth on his side, yet the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were arguing that they had truth on their side. Here is the difficulty. If we stand on our principles so that we give no ground, then talking ceases and the truth will never be heard or listened to. I may have truth on my side, but if I do not take account of the consciences of others, and accommodate myself to them as far as possible, then they will shut themselves of from me, and the truth I know will never be heard by them. Further if I am not ready to talk and listen I will not learn if I have corrupted the truth in some way myself. Often when there is an uncompromising stand for what we feel is the truth, love flies out of the window.

In the past Paul had stood firm against Jewish Christians who were corrupting the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ when they insisted on the keeping of the Jewish ceremonial law, and particularly the rite of circumcision. He wrote his letter to the Galatians to combat such error because he saw that it destroyed the gospel, and was leading souls into danger. We read that he withstood Peter to his face when he compromised the gospel in refusing to eat with Gentiles. Paul also defended the right of the Gentiles not to be circumcised. Yet here in Jerusalem he was ready to meet the scruples of others and the difficulties which existed in the Jerusalem church, and go along with Jewish ceremonies.

In this action Paul did not compromise his beliefs or undermine the Gospel. He simply met the rules of the temple to quieten the prejudices of others, and was ready to show that he was not condemning others and seeking to put them down. This humility and conciliatory spirit led to great suffering for him and his being put in prison, but I am sure love and real Christian concern prompted his actions.

What is illustrated here is how uncompromising thoughtless standing on principles can be a gateway for the devil to infiltrate and cause unrest, conflict and destruction. However we may deplore the action of the Jews in the riot against Paul, it was prompted by religious fears. What was felt to be the true traditions these Jews believed were being defiled and destroyed. The fact is that Paul was not doing any of the things that the Jews in their anger and prejudice attributed to him. If they had been willing to listen and find the true facts, they would have seen that this was so.

Let us always be ready to listen to others. Let always be ready to be conciliatory where we can. Let us always be patient, loving and understanding with people we disagree with. Let us always be forgiving and loving towards the offences we see or think we see in others. Let us be humble enough to realise that however much truth and right we may have on our side, we are not devoid of error and sin ourselves and have no right to judge others.