Decision-making

Acts 21 begins a new section of Luke’s history, dealing with a period in Paul’s life which is not as uplifting as the temptations, trials and triumphs we have looked at earlier. The missionary journeys are completed. Paul is going to Jerusalem for the last time and arrives there in this chapter.

Paul persevered in a tough job for many long years in spite of opposition, persecution, and even physical abuse. If Paul had not had the kind of personality he had, he would not have achieved what he did achieve in his ministry.

In yesterday’s study we looked at two things that can be said in defense of Paul’s decision to return to Jerusalem: his strong personality and his love of the Jews. Third, Paul had a great evangelistic plan, a strong strategy for world missions, and this was part of it. Paul knew that there was a growing rupture in the church between its Jewish and Gentile branches. This was probably inevitable, given Jewish prejudices against the Gentile world. But whether it was inevitable or not, Paul wanted to do everything possible to overcome its presence in the church.

Someone may object at this point, “But what’s the big deal? What difference did it make that Paul went to Jerusalem, even if he was out of the will of God? Certainly many of us do similar things. Didn’t God just say, ‘Well, alright, let him do it; I’ll get him on the right track later’?” We find the answer to those questions as we read on in the story, for we learn that Paul’s disobedience quickly led to something quite bad.

There are times when one is strong and another is weak, when one is off the path but another is on it. But that can always be reversed. We can ourselves always stumble and fall, like others. We need to be humble. We need to know that we also always need each other, just as we also always need the Lord.