No Distractions

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

NO DISTRACTIONS

Acts 16:1-5

16:1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

NIV

The reason we are being told the ancestral background of Timothy is because having a Gentile father he did not get circumcised in his eighth day of life. But a puzzling thought is that how would any of the people Paul was going to visit, know if Timothy was or wasn’t circumcised, except of course it says they all knew his father was a Greek, and what difference would it really make among believers. Why would Jews who accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah expect everyone who traveled with Paul to be Jewish and circumcised? Were they still trying to follow the law and Jesus? It might be understandable that Paul did not want any conflicts, but wanted to be able to bring the message of the Apostles about how they should live, abstaining from certain foods as well as from certain behaviors. But it still reaches a little bizarre especially since it is Paul who makes the argument about circumcision of the heart being of importance rather than of the flesh when he wrote to the church in Rome. We are not certain of the timeline, but it would seem this event was before he was in Rome, and wrote to the Romans. Perhaps Paul grew in his understanding of the truth along the way as well as strengthening others in the faith. It would appear there is some form of outward appearance that is essential to presenting the truth to others. Perhaps those who pastor, shepherd, preach, or teach the word of God should not appear as Gentiles, but rather as men of God. It may not be just the words we say, but how we look may affect the effectiveness of what we say. Long hair, tattoos, ear piercings, facial hair and even dingy or sloppy clothing might well distract from the message. These are the ways of the world and rather than appear as them, Paul wanted Timothy to appear as the people of God so the message would not have any distractions. That is not to say all those things, or appearance is against any spiritual law, or truth, but it may well not be the best way to present the truth to all believers. If evangelism is the goal, and we are out in the world mixing it up, going to the places the world goes to, and making acquaintances in order to share the gospel message, then as Paul even stated, become like them for the purpose of sharing the message, but not to be, as in this case, a preacher or teacher of believers, to strengthen them in the faith. Paul wanted Timothy to conform to the expectations of those who he wanted to strengthen so as to keep the message from distractions. We should learn this lesson well, so that we too might not create distractions from our message, whether that be one of strengthening others in the faith, or even sharing the message of salvation to those in need of it. No distractions.