Short Devotion: Open Their Eyes - Acts 26:17a-18

Acts 26:17a-18 “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (NIV)

 

Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa revealed his personal commission from Jesus. In Acts 26, we read Paul’s confession of his inhumane religious zeal which led him to fanatically pursue, persecute, and punish any Christ believers in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Galilee, and even beyond their borders. He was on a one-man crusade which had a single purpose: to annihilate the Christian sect wherever it occurred.

 

Paul truly believed he was working for God until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and changed him completely. What Paul thought was right in God’s eyes was actually wrong; what Paul felt God was compelling him to do was a religious delusion. Christ humbled Paul with a temporary blindness in order to get him to fully reconsider his fanatical ways. His personal mission was no longer valid; Christ’s commission for Paul to lead the Gentiles to the light of God had only just begun.

 

Over the decades of ministry that I have experienced, I now recognize those similar times of religious zeal and self-righteousness which took me off Christ’s path in order to pursue my own agenda, feelings, and self-constructed faith. Like Paul, I honestly thought I was doing God’s great work, but in reality, I was shaping a religious idol which reflected more about me rather than Jesus. When I dare to look back, I regret some of the things I said, wrote, drew, and did which perfectly expressed my zeal, but imperfectly witnessed to Christ’s compassion. If I knew then what I know now, things would have been different, but I was blinded by my own self-assurance, self-opinion, and self-focused faith that I could not see where I was so intolerably wrong.

 

Sadly, I see the same religious zeal hurting powerless people instead of healing them today. I see Christ’s compassion being cast aside in order to make people conform to religious rules. Instead of being the way to bring people into the light of God’s love, I see faith being abused to fearfully overshadow and engulf others in a destructive darkness which occurs when ignorance, intolerance, and religious zeal are forcefully combined to demonize, marginalize, and pulverize others into submitting to a regulated religion – the very same thing that Paul was guilty of empowering and unleashing, from which only the true Spirit of Christ could liberate him.

 

May Jesus release us from the same.

 

Point to ponder: Does my faith lead people to the light of God’s love? If so, how? If not, why not?

 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, free us from the fetters of ignorance, intolerance, and fanaticism and lead us to compassion, care, and grace. Use our faith to heal and not to harm, to love and not to loathe, to help and not to hate. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

 

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can see what the congregation is doing by visiting the church website at www.erinpres.org.

 

 

June 9 devotional - The Contender

Colossians 2:1            I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. (NIV)

            Paul contended for the young churches under his care. He knew that the faith of those new Christians was delicate and that they could be led astray by flattering words and false gospels. He fought for them in many ways and eventually sacrificed his life for the Gospel. He was a remarkable fighter for the faith; he was a strident contender for Christ.

            Sometimes I wonder how Paul would have fared with today’s Church. We seem to have wandered so far away from the Gospel Truth that I think he would stridently confront our mistakes and try to redirect our paths. Unfortunately, he would probably come across as being intolerant, out-of-touch, and imbecilic to most post-moderns. His statements would be ignored and his opinions would be cast aside, just as his written words are somewhat treated today.

            I wish that God would raise up another Paul among us, instead of the ‘Guy Smiley’ preachers that abound in our mega churches. People say that they are thirsting for real, authentic Christianity, but that involves changing a lot of what we have become. If another contender does arise, then she or he will shake the foundations of our cozy beliefs and make us honestly reconsider our ways. It won’t be easy, but then again, the symbol of our faith is a sacred Cross and not a comfy sofa.

Questions for personal reflection

What do I honestly think of Paul and his teachings? Why?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You chose Paul to contend for Your Church on Earth. Help us to understand why You selected him and what his writings truly teach us about You. Help us to re-evaluate our faith and renew our commitment to You alone. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to send him an email about today’s message, send it to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s drawing is one of John’s drawings called “Christ is King.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: King.