Paul: All about Discipleship & Evangelism

Chapter 20

v. 4 - discipleship - a quick read of this chapter would not cause one to pause and notice anything in verse 4 except a list of guys' names (think genealogy). As is always the case with the Bible, there is more here than meets the eye. Luke is listing for us the names of men who were disciples of Christ and disciples of Paul. Obviously, Paul wants them to follow Christ and not him, but this is how discipleship works. I am stunned by this. Here's a list of 7 guys (and there were, no doubt, more) who apparently had left their jobs, hometowns, maybe even families to become followers. Paul's ministry was so effective that at least 7 guys would give up pretty much everything that was security (financial, social, emotional, physical) to them and risk it all to follow Paul around (as he followed the Lord). AMAZING. Think of our own lives and ask this scary question: have I lived my life in such a way that I have drawn anyone to follow Christ in a more radical way? do I have anyone in my "wake" that has made bold steps to be faithful to Christ and told the world (and all it has to offer) "thanks, but no thanks?"

v. 7 - Saturday to Sunday - the Sabbath is Saturday. Yet another sign that "The Way" is not a Jewish thing is they were now meeting on Sunday (the day of resurrection). We see here in verse 7 that they were meeting "on the first day of the week" (read: Sunday).

v. 9 - How can you doubt the Bible? - this is hilarious to me. Why would you put a story in the Bible about a preacher going "on and on" (not my words, but Luke's/the Holy Spirit's) until midnight and how a guy fell asleep during this long sermon? If you were making this up, you wouldn't include such a crazy story. Apparently, falling asleep in church has a long and storied history. Ha ha.

v. 20 - preach it! - Paul says here you know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you. Ooooooh, yeah! (he says in verse 27 that he also didn't hesitate to proclaim to them "the whole will of God") "Helpful" is also translated "profitable" in another version. The question is, "What is helpful or profitable for me?" Do I always need to hear that God loves me, forgives me and has a wonderful plan for my life? Is that the entire counsel of the Word or the whole will of God? Is it also profitable and helpful for me to know that God is holy, righteous, pure and that He does not compromise on these? Would it be helpful to me to know that God has non-negotiable expectations of me as a child of His? Here's a final point of application: with whom do I have the relationship (and, therefore, the right) to speak "anything that would be helpful/profitable" into their lives? If we have some people we can do this with, do we do it? Paul acted as if this was one of the ways he loved these people.

v. 22 - compelled by the Spirit, I... - not much to say here, except that I was struck by this phrase and wish I started more of my sentences and communication the same way.

v. 24 - evangelism - (read this next sentence with a heavy dose of sarcasm) I wonder why Paul was so effective in seeing tons of people come to be followers of Christ and seeing lots of churches planted? Duh. What an amazing statement?! Is this not the task that we all have: testifying to the gospel of God's grace? I think he's tipping his hand as to how to be effective at this task: it's the 1st part of the verse: I consider my life worth nothing to me. The greatest obstacle to me sharing my faith more is not cultural differences or overcoming tolerance...it's me.