Experience: S2 - Day 19

The risk of stepping out of your comfort zones

Acts 10:44 Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.
Then Peter asked, 47 “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” 48 So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterward Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.

Just like on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out again, but this time on Gentiles.  There is no denying that the God of Israel is now the God of and for all, for He has come to those outside the tribe as much as He has come to those inside.  Even the gift they received was the same.  In Acts 2, one of the results of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit involved was speaking in tongues, which is mirrored again here with the Gentiles.

In v 45, it says that the Jewish believers were “amazed.” The word in the Greek is existemi, it means to be utterly astonished, beside oneself, and at a total loss to explain what was happening.  The Jewish believers were being pushed so far out of their comfort zones, so far beyond their previously established beliefs and expectations, that they are at a loss for words.

What so fascinating in this story is that compared to what happened in Acts 2, is that Jews in the crowd that day who heard Peter’s message after he was filled with the Spirit were convicted of their sin. Their need for Jesus and when they asked him what they should do, Peter told them to repent, be baptized, and THEN they’d receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  But in this story, the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit first, then came the conversation on whether or not the Jews could baptize them.  So God chose to welcome them into the family through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then man would have to make theirs, whether or not they would “allow” them to be baptized by water.

I once sat in a board meeting where a vote was brought as to whether or not a particular person could be baptized, only to have the final vote, in this case, be a no.  The claim was that the person in question couldn’t be baptized because of a “known” sin in their life that, in the opinion of the majority of the board, the person wasn’t either willing to let go of or hadn’t repented of, yet. (I was thankful that the board didn’t know about the sins I struggled with)

In the case of the person I’m thinking of, to my knowledge, the vote from the board hurt them deeply.  They had a desire to continue to pursue Jesus, and the way they felt, that desire had a door slammed in its face.  They knew they weren’t perfect; they knew they were a work in progress (read Philippians 1:6), but they also knew Jesus was their only answer.  They were willing to trust in Jesus for their salvation and for Him to produce the fruit of the Spirit as they walked with Him, but the church board said no, not yet.  I don’t believe the board intended to hurt the person, but that’s what happened as it made the person wonder if they’d ever be “good enough” to give their life to Jesus.

So, what did this person decide to do?  They ended up leaving the humans (i.e., the church community) to try to follow Jesus on their own.  They figured that if the humans wouldn’t let them continue to pursue Jesus, they’d do it without them.  The problem is that none of us were meant to journey after Jesus alone; we were created to follow Jesus alongside other fault-filled human beings.

It wasn’t long after this that I moved away from this community, but I still pray for that person.  I’m not sure if they’ve reconnected with another community or what the status of their faith is, but I hope they haven’t given up and thrown the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.

In these moments, we’d do well to remember this story in Acts 10, and what happened when Peter went back and got criticized by the Jewish followers for entering the home of a Gentile and eating with them.  Peter told them the story of his vision, of the encounter with Cornelius and his family, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and said, “Who was I to stand in God’s way?”

Who indeed! Our job is to introduce people to Jesus, and let Jesus go to work in their lives, period.  Now, that’s not a one and done experience, but a commitment to journey in life together as a community of faith. Their journey may look different than mine, but if we pursue Jesus together, then Jesus is going to continue to work on us until the day He returns.

So let us not stand in anyone’s way when they want to give their life to Jesus, even in the times that make us uncomfortable.  Rather, let us celebrate and journey alongside of people as together we keep our eyes on Jesus.

Questions:

1. If you have been baptized, do you think you understood everything there is to understand about your need for Jesus and all that He is to you on that day, or did you keep growing in understanding of all those things even after that day? 
2. Have you ever witnessed what seemed like someone standing in the way of God’s work before?  If so, how did it make you feel and what did it make you want to do?
3. What are some ways that you and I can encourage one another on our journey with Jesus?