Acting on Acts

Thank you so much for reading Acts with us. Maybe you read the whole book, maybe you just read the same first chapters of Acts you always read! Regardless, the journey has been worthwhile. Here’s a response from our good friend, Mike Taylor, in Chesapeake, Virginia:

“Reading Acts with you has 'strongly' brought out this to me: we are to tailor the gospel message specific to those we meet. We are not to pre-program our outreach in any way... if we truly rest in the power of the Holy Spirit, He will guide on a case by case basis the exact way we should tell others about the hope within and the joy of knowing God. This has been a great awakening for me, who tends to compartmentalize everything. I have always been an 'out of the box' thinker and now the Spirit would have me apply this to my walk with Him with respect to the opportunities He brings.”

The book of Acts is so exciting, but it is sometimes intimidating. God did amazing things, but is it normal to expect He would do so today? If so, what would be our role? We read stories of thousands who came to faith in Christ in settings in which the Apostles spoke on the spot to large crowds, often near large piles of menacing stones.

Is that what God wants me to do? Is that the only or the best way for people to come to faith? As I read Acts, I was excited to observe what seemed to be an evangelistic pattern in the ministry of the first century church that could apply to our lives and churches today.

Consider Peter in Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost. Over 3,000 were added to the church as a result of his sermon! Then there’s Peter and John, through whom God healed a crippled beggar in Acts 3. And Stephen in Acts 7, as well as Paul before Gentiles in Acts 14 and 17. For that matter, there’s Philip on the road to Gaza with the Ethiopian treasurer in Acts 8.

What do these stories have in common that would help us be more effective in evangelism today? Here’s the pattern I observed: God acts, people question, and the Apostles respond.

In Acts 2, God acts: He gives the Apostles the gift of speaking in foreign languages they had never studied. People question: “What does this mean” (Acts 2:12). The Apostles respond: Peter stood up and addressed the crowd, explaining the death and resurrection of Jesus.

In Acts 3-4, God acts: Through Peter and John, He heals the crippled beggar. People question: “(When they saw that the beggar was healed) all the people were astonished and came running to them” (Acts 3:11). Later, the high priest questioned: “By what power or what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7) The Apostles responded by preaching Christ in several settings.

In Acts 8, God acts by guiding Philip to a chariot in which there was an Ethiopian man reading, but not understanding the book of Isaiah. The man questioned: “How can I (understand) unless someone explain it to me?” (Acts 8:31)

And so on: God acts, people question, the Apostles respond.

I believe this is readily applicable to evangelism today. God is acting all around us in people’s lives. He is bringing blessing and allowing tragedy. He may bring healing or permit disease. Creation is never silent, and we never know when our neighbors might hear something of God’s divine nature by what is being shouted by the stars or the seas. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone hasn’t had some experience in their life that made them think of God. God acts.

And people question. What’s right and wrong? Why is this happening? How do you explain the hope you seem to have? What do I do with the guilt I feel? How can I fix the things that are broken in my life? Why do some people seem so lucky?

Our job is to respond. Whether we stand up and address a crowd or have a meaningful talk with a colleague over lunch or send a good friend an email, our job is to respond to the questions people have about the things God is doing.

Hey, I can do that!

But there’s one catch. The answers are useless unless we’re first close enough to hear the question.