Year 4, Day 254: Acts 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Character

• Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person.  It is hearing from God and obeying.  It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

It is always hard to write about character in the chapters where things go wrong in the end.  After all, we love to see the stories that are about character and which also end well.  We who are looking to develop character want to hear about the times when building character has a great result.  But who wants to read a story where a person displays great character and the world still wins?

Instead, let’s start with the completion of Paul’s journey.  Notice how the Christians in town after town come and fellowship with Paul.  That’s character.  There is no debate about internal politics.  There is no argument.  There is celebration because a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit has come among them!  That’s character, and a great example of it!

Then we have the Christian leaders of the Jerusalem church.  I find their character a little suspect.  But in saying it, I also find myself among them frequently.  The leaders in Jerusalem ask Paul to live a particular way so as to not cause unrest.  Now, this isn’t a bad thing.  They are just trying to keep peace and allow the Christians in Jerusalem to live without persecution.  Remember, Jerusalem was a political hotbed in the first century with riot after riot.  But in the end, the leaders of the Jerusalem church ask Paul to compromise for the sake of the Jerusalem Christians.  I’ve been there before.  I’ve done this very thing.  Sometimes it’s necessary.  But it’s never enjoyable.

Finally we get to the character of Paul.  He does compromise.  He does live as the Jerusalem leaders ask for the sake of the church.  He is still arrested under a false charge.  He is still beaten publically.  He knew this would happen.  We saw it in the last chapter.  We also heard person after person warn Paul in this chapter to not go up to Jerusalem.  But he still went into the slaughter.  That’s character, too.

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