In the early church in the book of Acts the apostles are arrested many times for preaching Jesus. In one story they are arrested and then freed by an Angel only to be brought back before the Sanhedrin to answer questions again about their preaching. An interesting thing happens in that story. When Peter and the other apostles answer their questions, the scriptures say the men in the Sanhedrin become angry and want to kill them. Then one member of the Sanhedrin, Gamaliel, stands up and tells everyone if what the Apostles are preaching is from God then they will lose if they fight against these men. Let me quote that reply: Acts 5:39 “But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
Another story in the book of Acts takes place among those who are believers in Christ. It takes place after Paul’s conversion to Christianity. Paul goes to Jerusalem after his Damascus road experience and he tries to join with the disciples but they are all afraid of him because of his past history of persecuting the church. A man named Barnabas comes along side Paul and helps him meet with the disciples. Paul may never have been accepted in the Jerusalem church if it had not been for Barnabas.
As I thought about these two stories I began to see something they both had in common. We have a group of leaders in Jerusalem who do not believe in Jesus and within the group we have men that are willing to kill anyone that disagrees with them, and then Gamaliel was open to the possibility that they were wrong. In the other story we have a group of leaders in the church that would not have anything to do with Paul, but Barnabas was open to the fact that Paul could have really changed and he knew he needed his help. Gamaliel and Barnabas are open or teachable and the other’s are not. What makes them so different? I wish I could easily answer that….. then I could go on a speaking tour and get paid big bucks! But it’s just not that easy.
To simply say we need to be open minded and not so dogmatic about everything will not work. According to scripture…..some people are just not teachable or open minded about certain things, especially the preaching of Jesus. One of the saddest commentaries I know happened in the last part of the book of Acts when Paul is trying to teach the Jewish people in Rome about Christ. Some were convinced by what Paul said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement:
“The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: ‘Go to this people and say, You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them’ ”.
Teach-ability according to this scripture seems to have a lot to do with having a tender heart. Refusing to hear or see what God is trying to teach us leads us to a calloused heart, a heart incapable of being healed. Sad. Sad because people can react so violently when someone challenges what they believe. People are killed all the time for the good of mankind. This is true of non-Christians and Christians alike. I personally feel anger rise up in me when someone strongly disagrees with me. In many cases if I keep my cool I discover that I’m the one in error. But there are other advantages in keeping your cool, it gives you the opportunity to help them if they are in error. God calls us to love, and that’s something we cannot force on people. Violence will never change someone’s heart, only the love of God can do that.
God help us to be open, to be teachable, and to graciously love those that disagree. Grace and unity - Gary
Another story in the book of Acts takes place among those who are believers in Christ. It takes place after Paul’s conversion to Christianity. Paul goes to Jerusalem after his Damascus road experience and he tries to join with the disciples but they are all afraid of him because of his past history of persecuting the church. A man named Barnabas comes along side Paul and helps him meet with the disciples. Paul may never have been accepted in the Jerusalem church if it had not been for Barnabas.
As I thought about these two stories I began to see something they both had in common. We have a group of leaders in Jerusalem who do not believe in Jesus and within the group we have men that are willing to kill anyone that disagrees with them, and then Gamaliel was open to the possibility that they were wrong. In the other story we have a group of leaders in the church that would not have anything to do with Paul, but Barnabas was open to the fact that Paul could have really changed and he knew he needed his help. Gamaliel and Barnabas are open or teachable and the other’s are not. What makes them so different? I wish I could easily answer that….. then I could go on a speaking tour and get paid big bucks! But it’s just not that easy.
To simply say we need to be open minded and not so dogmatic about everything will not work. According to scripture…..some people are just not teachable or open minded about certain things, especially the preaching of Jesus. One of the saddest commentaries I know happened in the last part of the book of Acts when Paul is trying to teach the Jewish people in Rome about Christ. Some were convinced by what Paul said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement:
“The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: ‘Go to this people and say, You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them’ ”.
Teach-ability according to this scripture seems to have a lot to do with having a tender heart. Refusing to hear or see what God is trying to teach us leads us to a calloused heart, a heart incapable of being healed. Sad. Sad because people can react so violently when someone challenges what they believe. People are killed all the time for the good of mankind. This is true of non-Christians and Christians alike. I personally feel anger rise up in me when someone strongly disagrees with me. In many cases if I keep my cool I discover that I’m the one in error. But there are other advantages in keeping your cool, it gives you the opportunity to help them if they are in error. God calls us to love, and that’s something we cannot force on people. Violence will never change someone’s heart, only the love of God can do that.
God help us to be open, to be teachable, and to graciously love those that disagree. Grace and unity - Gary
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