Acts 14: When People Misunderstand

When we serve Christ, some people will misunderstand. Paul and Barnabas experienced this effect when they taught and performed miracles in a city called Lystra. Acts 14 shares:

¹¹ When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹² Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ¹⁵ “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past, he let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷ Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” ¹⁸ Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

Instead of turning to God in response to the message, the people of Lystra gave reverence to Paul and Barnabas as gods. This may strike us as odd, but consider our own culture, which includes:

-American Idol

-Celebrity culture of icons ranging from Justin Bieber to Lady Gaga to Barack Obama to Lebron James

-Sports icons who become the shirts, shoes, posters, and cereal box covers the next generation reveres

We have our gods (and goddesses) too. We just give them different names.

However, as those who communicate the love of Christ, we must live differently. Two thoughts to consider. First, are there people we follow in an unhealthy way? Whether our favorite athlete or actress, political figure or musician, it may be time to replace a poster with a cross or to replace your favorite author’s novel with some time in the Bible.

Second, how do you respond when others look to you as a leader? This is different in some ways from the response given to Paul and Barnabas, but not as much as we might like to think. When others applaud your gifts, service, or actions, do you quickly point the glory to God? Do you say, as John the Baptist did about Jesus, he must increase, I must decrease?

People will misunderstand. That is to be expected. We must be prepared to live with God as the one both receiving our full allegiance and the one to whom we give credit when others recognize our efforts.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author or co-author of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of the New Testament in 2011 at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com