How’s about a little sermon preview for Templeton, and rehash for SLO this morning?
We are looking into Acts 21:15 to somewhere in 22. In there, we see Paul doing something he simply did not have to do, but did to accommodate a group of his fellow Jews who believed a rumor about him.
Now, I don’t know about you, but my first reaction to something false said about me is to defend the truth of it all, and set straight those who are fabricating/perpetuating such lies. I also seem to feel responsible for how others interpret my way/words – in spite of my best efforts to be clear, and their responsibility for the filter they use.
But Paul, though very intelligent, a great debater and clearly not at fault in this situation, chose to align himself with the truth by participating in a vow, with some other guys, that was completely unnecessary and opened himself up to confirm the accusations. His allegiance to Jewish laws and traditions were always clear, as was his message of non-Jewish obligation to the Gentiles.
And that’s where this trouble began. Those who were preloaded to have a problem were having a problem. So Paul subjected principles that were readily and non-sinfully at his disposal for a greater, overriding principle. You’ll have to look into it.
Dayn