Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
In Acts 26 Paul makes his defense before King Agrippa. I suggest you read it as Paul recounts God’s activity in his life both before and after he became a follower of Jesus. The part that I want to focus on this morning is found in verses 16-18 as Paul recounts what Jesus said to him after appearing to him. These are Jesus’ words to Paul: 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
In a world of great prejudice and social problems…in a time when oppression reigned supreme, in a time when human life and dignity were not valued at all, Jesus commissioned a man to do something and what was foremost or first on Jesus’ mind? First on Jesus’ mind was for Paul to go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel, that the people could be delivered from the power of Satan to the power of God…that they may receive forgiveness of sin. Paul was told to preach the gospel. Paul was told to participate in the eternal life changing process of turning people from darkness to light. Have we lost this as our focus? The church has failed throughout the centuries to properly care for the poor and to properly stand against social injustice. But our greatest failure, in my opinion, has not been this. Our greatest failure, and I count myself as part of the problem, has been to neglect the role that Jesus has given His church to reach the lost; those who do not know Christ. This is the commission that Jesus gave to His disciples before He ascended into heaven. This is the commission that Jesus gave to Paul.
We must feed the hungry and we must stand up for the rights of those who are being marginalized but we cannot do that without sharing the gospel of Jesus that turns men from darkness into light, that saves men and women from eternal hell. To do the former without the latter is just not found in the New Testament. Let’s do the first things first and I believe we will be able to do the other things even more effectively.