Be prepared for trouble when you speak the name of Jesus.
How much courage must it have taken for the Apostle Paul and his companions as they travelled to the various Roman colonies, preaching the Gospel to all kinds of people who weren't necessarily receptive of the message, to say the least.
The Jews, for example, were always extremely opposed to the idea of Jesus Christ being the Messiah. Their arguments were understandable at the time, I suppose, but their methods of dealing with those who they considered blasphemers was a definitive sign of how far they had gotten from listening to God. Centuries of tradition and self-serving re-writing of Holy Scriptures had brought them to a place where they couldn't even recognize the Son of God standing right in front of them.
The Romans were a little bit more patient, but being a mostly militaristic society, especially in it's satellite colonies, it rarely tolerated much upheaval from religious zealots. A lot of Romans were very receptive of the Gospel actually, but their loyalties to state and emperor usually trumped any personal spiritual involvement. How amazing it is then; that Rome became the center of Christian life a century after the death of the Apostle Paul at it's hands c.67 AD.
This reading brings out an issue that was addressed in Hillsong United's film that we all went to see last night. In "The I Heart Revolution: We're All In This Together" Joel Houston and others speak about the huge barriers to social justice and the love of Jesus in the form of secular corporations and the pattern of economic disparity and consumption that has clouded the values and judgement of most of the world.
What are we willing to do to spread the message of Christ today? As Christians, we go to church, talk a lot about nice, cuddly Gospel messages that make us feel good, but we immediately step right out of the pews one moment, and enter the secular world the next, completely separating the two worlds. It's a huge dichotomy that I really don't know the answer to. Challenging the secular world can cause us to be removed from it, thus eliminating our ability to affect it whatsoever. The power of the media and business interests seems overwhelming to most of us, yet as the film states many times, history has proven that single individuals have usually been responsible for some of the greatest achievements of mankind. The secret lies in using what we have in our hands, changing perspectives through available methods, and hopefully reaching a new understanding of how God loves each and every one of us.
The Jews, for example, were always extremely opposed to the idea of Jesus Christ being the Messiah. Their arguments were understandable at the time, I suppose, but their methods of dealing with those who they considered blasphemers was a definitive sign of how far they had gotten from listening to God. Centuries of tradition and self-serving re-writing of Holy Scriptures had brought them to a place where they couldn't even recognize the Son of God standing right in front of them.
The Romans were a little bit more patient, but being a mostly militaristic society, especially in it's satellite colonies, it rarely tolerated much upheaval from religious zealots. A lot of Romans were very receptive of the Gospel actually, but their loyalties to state and emperor usually trumped any personal spiritual involvement. How amazing it is then; that Rome became the center of Christian life a century after the death of the Apostle Paul at it's hands c.67 AD.
This reading brings out an issue that was addressed in Hillsong United's film that we all went to see last night. In "The I Heart Revolution: We're All In This Together" Joel Houston and others speak about the huge barriers to social justice and the love of Jesus in the form of secular corporations and the pattern of economic disparity and consumption that has clouded the values and judgement of most of the world.
What are we willing to do to spread the message of Christ today? As Christians, we go to church, talk a lot about nice, cuddly Gospel messages that make us feel good, but we immediately step right out of the pews one moment, and enter the secular world the next, completely separating the two worlds. It's a huge dichotomy that I really don't know the answer to. Challenging the secular world can cause us to be removed from it, thus eliminating our ability to affect it whatsoever. The power of the media and business interests seems overwhelming to most of us, yet as the film states many times, history has proven that single individuals have usually been responsible for some of the greatest achievements of mankind. The secret lies in using what we have in our hands, changing perspectives through available methods, and hopefully reaching a new understanding of how God loves each and every one of us.
