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TURNING TO THE LIVING GOD: FALSE GODS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (ACTS 14:8-18)

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is “Turning to the Living God: False gods in the New Testament.” The theme is a call to those worshipping other gods and practising idolism to repent and be saved. This was the focus of the Apostles in the Early Church they were itinerant preachers who went from place to place preaching the Gospel or the Good News. Apostle Luke who is the author of Acts of the Apostles wrote about the start of the Early Church and the missionary and evangelistic activities of the Apostles. We shall reflect on the fact that people who worship false gods are ignorant of the existence of the living God therefore it is our responsibility as believers to continue to spread the Gospel for many to be saved.

Dear friend in the Lord, many people are ignorantly worshipping false gods or spirits. These brothers and sisters are still in darkness hence it is our divine mandate to bring the light or Gospel to wherever there is darkness and ignorance so that many will repent and be saved. It is for this purpose that Apostles Paul and Barnabas, went to Lystra to preach the Good News. After Paul had performed a miracle by healing a lame man who had accepted the Gospel, the people were astonished and they erroneously thought their gods, Zeus and Hermes had descended in human form to visit them, therefore, they wanted to perform sacrifices to them. (Act 14:8-13). “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:14-17) Paul and Barnabas, tore their clothes because it was an abomination for a mere mortal to take the glory of the Almighty God. They seized the opportunity to introduce the ignorant idol worshippers to the Almighty God and drew their attention to the fact that whatever benefit they have had from time immemorial was from God who is the creator of the World and giver of everything that sustains human beings on earth.

Beloved in the Lord, many who are in darkness and ignorantly worshipping objects and spirits they do know. It is for this reason Paul preached to the Athenians in Acts 17:22-28, “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship —and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ Dear friend in Christ, it is the core mandate of the Church to focus on mission and evangelism so that many will come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must have Christians who are evangelism-oriented so that wherever we find ourselves we shall discharge the mandate of the Great Commission as stated in Matthew 28:18-20 when Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The Early Church seem to be completely different from the 21st Century Church. The Early Church grew rapidly because it was mission and evangelism-focused. The Apostles or Church leaders were actively involved in Evangelism or preaching of the Gospel. However, in the 21st century, the church has been greatly divided by doctrines and all manner of interests. The 21st-century church is more inward-looking and greatly driven by denominationalism and the welfare of its members than evangelizing. The 21st-century Church is more interested in infrastructure development and aesthetics of chapels than going into the deep to preach the Gospel. The 21st century Church is more interested in organizing musical concerts than Evangelistic crusades. The 21st-century Church has more celebrity pastors and self-acclaimed prophets than leaders who are mission-focused. Little or no budgetary allocation is made for the mass training of evangelists to go into the hinterland in the 21st-century Church. Little or no support is given to Pastors who also serve as missionaries in the hinterlands where many are still worshipping idols. One of the reasons the Early Church grew rapidly irrespective of the persecutions and obstacles is that they seized every little opportunity to preach the Gospel. Is your Church and for that matter your congregation doing the same? Do we have leaders who are mission and evangelism-focused in our congregations? We need a revival in the area of Mission and Evangelism.

Any Church that does not prioritize the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ is merely a welfare organization. Welfare organisations do not exist to preach the Gospel, they are more concerned about wedding and funeral benefits. Can we go back to the the main business of the Church by focusing on the preaching the Gospel, and training of more Evangelists to lead the crusade of winning our brothers and sisters who are perishing in the world? Can we train our members to move away from the welfare orientation to the mission and evangelism orientation? Can we have a situation where every parish or District can train and support an Evangelist whose business is to lead the evangelism team to spread the Gospel even as the pastors provides pastoral care and administrative leadership? Yes, it is possible if we set our priorities right and are determined to go into the deep to preach the Gospel. We invite everyone to support this great revival by supporting the church and ministers who have the passion to preach the Gospel for the growth of the Church and the salvation of many.

In summary, we have discovered that people who worship false gods are ignorant of the existence of the living God therefore it is our responsibility as believers to continue to spread the Gospel for many to be saved. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, empower us to preach the Gospel everywhere we are so that many will be saved. Amen.