“These men have upset the world!”
These charges were leveled at Paul and Silas after they preached the Good News in Thessalonica. They must have done a great job in making the gospel clear to all who heard them. Acts 17 tells us that many people came to Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. For these people, the gospel was a welcome fragrance.
To others, it was the stench of death. Some Jews hated the message, and wanted to make Paul and Silas pay for ruining their day. They accused Paul and Silas of promoting another ruler besides Caesar. These Jews hated the rule of Caesar, but they hated Jesus even more.
This episode illustrates a truth about the Good News. Even when clearly presented, it will win some and infuriate others, even to the point of violence. In one person, the Holy Spirit brings new life; in another, the gospel reveals spiritual death.
Why do people reject the gospel? Such people love their sin above all else and resent having it exposed by the light of Christ and told that it is evil. They want to call evil good, to run their own lives without accountability to anyone, including God who made them.
No doubt some people who opposed Paul and Silas were religious, but they were dead to the true God. They wanted to turn the truth of God into something that sounded moral and sounded comfortable. As such, it was something less than truth. They preferred a god that helped them feel good about themselves, not repent. When Paul and Silas reminded them of their sin and God’s holiness, they recoiled.
Paul and Silas did not follow the seeker-friendly approach popular in many churches today. The seeker-friendly approach may lead people to adopt certain ideas from the Bible that appeal to them, but fail to reveal sin leading to repentance. They become devoted to their own ideas of God more than to God Himself.
A spiritually dead person can have spiritual longings, but they are always less than God. They still hate the true God even when they speak in moral and spiritual ways. In real life, they operate according to natural thinking.
The seeker-friendly approach operates on the false premise that one can share the gospel and lead a person to God without upsetting anyone. The seeker-friendly approach is a sign of how much the culture has impacted the church more than the church has impacted the culture.
George Barna reports that in his research, he has found that only 6% of today’s adults have a biblical worldview. The average American church person’s dominant worldview, he says, is syncretism, a collection of contradictory beliefs pasted together to suit themselves. A growing number of people in churches believe in reincarnation and that people are basically good. Fewer pastors preach the gospel with the clarity of Paul and Silas.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. He has already defeated Satan at the cross and invites us to join Him in enforcing His victory. He also warns us that Satan will go down swinging hard.
Let us move forward like Paul and Silas, assured of victory but also steeled for resistance from those who refuse to bow the knee to the King of kings. Let us remember that Jesus has already won.