Another Look at Acts 1:8

Various attempts have been made to apply the geography of Acts 1:8 to the personal situation of Jesus' disciples.   A common view is to see "Jerusalem" as the city/town/village where one lives, "Judea" as the state/province/district, "Samaria" as the nation, and the "uttermost parts" as the world.  The writing of missiologist David Mays has given me another way of understanding these levels.

Mays points out that we can classify the peoples who need our witness as either "like us" or "not like us."  "Like us" may include similar factors such as language, ethnicity, culture, socio-economic status, or even age-group.  When we don't share one or more of those factors, we tend to see others as "not like us."  Usually, that means that there will be some barrier to get over in order to share the gospel.

Mays further points out that peoples are either "near us" or "not near us."  This distinction is based solely on geographical location.  Some, regardless of the other factors already mentioned, are right around us, readily available for contact and conversation.  Others will require us to make a journey or relocate in order to develop a relationship with them.  Again, there is a barrier to cross--simple geographical distance.

Combining these two types of distinction yields four classifications:  (1) like us and near us; (2) like us and not near us; (3) not like us and near us; and (4) not like us and not near us.  Applying these four categories to Acts 1:8, we see Jerusalem as those both like and near us; Judea, like us but not near us (that is, not so close); Samaria, not like us but near us (that is, not so far); and the uttermost, not like us and not near us.

As pointed out in a previous post ("Both ... And"), we are not to think in terms of progressing through these levels sequentially.  We are to address them all simultaneously.  It is not logical to ignore the lost around us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  It is heartless to neglect those in lands with little access to the gospel while repeatedly evangelizing those around us.  And while it may be more comfortable and pragmatic to share with those of our own kind (think "homogenous unit" principle of church growth), it would be utterly selfish to save our own at the expense of Jesus' "other fold" (John 10:16).

Let's pray that we will be complete in our obedience to Jesus' instruction.

AAA Prayer Part 3

Are we more like a motorboat or a sailboat?  We tend to think and act like motorboats, containing our power within ourselves.  Spiritually, we must function like sailboats whose power is outside themselves.  Fill the motorboat with gasoline, and it can go where it likes, as fast as it likes, whenever it likes until it needs refilling.  Doesn't that sound like Christians who want to attend a service to get "filled" and then use that power for their own purposes?  The Christian life is more analogous to a sailboat that must adjust its sails to the wind when it blows, in the direction it blows, as strong as it blows.  We have no control over the Spirit; we can only adjust our lives to Him.

Appropriating His power can only come after aligning with His purposes.  The power is not ours to use.  We are His instruments, running on His power.

The need for power is undeniable.  Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).  The promise of power is readily available.  It comes with the Spirit (Acts 1:8).  When we move in the power of the Spirit, things happen that cannot be explained by our own resources, abilities, hard work, personalities, or leadership.  The 3,000 saved on the Day of Pentecost had nothing to do with Peter's eloquence nor with the fledgling church's marketing strategy.  The place, time, and results all were due to the Spirit.  Power is the ability to produce a result.  We must have power.

More than likely, we will not feel this power.  We may or may not feel a euphoria, a sense of well-being, or a state of confidence.  Most often we feel a sense of inadequacy that keeps us dependent on the Lord. Paul said his preaching to the Corinthians was "in weakness and fear and with much trembling" but also "with a demonstration of the Spirit's power" (1 Corinthians 2:3-5).  Paul later told them that he had learned that when he was weak, then he was strong because the Lord's strength is "made perfect in weakness."  He even boasted about his weakness "so that Christ's power may rest on me," going so far as to state a principle: "When I am weak, then I am strong [i.e., Christ's power flows through me] (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).  So the power we appropriate in prayer is not for our use nor for our state of being.  It is solely for the advancing of His purposes, His kingdom.

But we must have it.  His work cannot be done without His power.  When the winds of revival blew through Wales, the taverns closed and the jails were empty.  In the awakening of 1858 (the revival whose chief characteristic was widespread prayer meetings), one million new believers, more than 3% of the states' population, were baptized into the churches in one year.  An equivalent impact today would add nine million to the churches in the US alone.  When I was 16, I was a failure as a witness for Christ, but after a camp experience of complete surrender to His will and renewal of my walk with Him, I influenced people to commit their lives to Christ without knowing that I was doing it.

We should pray for power.  We should pray that others would receive power.  Ten days of praying followed by an hour of preaching is better than an hour of praying followed by ten days of preaching.  Just ask the apostles.

Pray today that we may approach His presence, align ourselves with His purposes, and appropriate His power.