A lesson from Antioch

What do you suppose those guys in Antioch were up to?

When the Holy Spirit told them to send out Saul and Barnabas … what do you suppose they were doing?

You’re probably familiar with Acts 13. But did you ever stop to think about what prompted God’s command? What kind of position did the church put themselves in, that caused God to tell them to take two of their “top dogs” and send them out as missionaries?

It seems they were having church. Well, maybe not exactly. But let’s start there.

Acts 13:2 tell us that “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said …”

“They” refers to the leaders of the church in Antioch. These prophets and teachers were ministering to the Lord, or worshipping. It’s the same expression that was used for the priests in the Old Testament, so a lot of folks figure they could well have been leading a church service.

Those folks know a lot more about the language than I do, so I’m not going to argue with them. I just want to point out two very special things about this service.

First, they were fasting. Fasting was a regular ritual among observant Jews, and we know a lot of the First Century believers were Jews and carried traditions over. But we also know that fasting is called for when we are seeking guidance from God. I’d like to think these guys were not just following tradition, but may have done something very traditional with very good reason: They wanted God’s guidance.

And I think there’s evidence of that because, second, there’s a thingie in what the Holy Spirit said – I think those people who know Greek called it a participle. This thingie indicates that His direction to send out Saul and Barnabas was in response to what they were asking for.

Now you have to think. Sorry. But think about this with me.

The church leaders are leading in worship, fasting, seeking direction from God, and God gives direction in response. What kind of direction do you think they were looking for?

Maybe you’re thinking that they must have been asking about what they were supposed to do in light of the Great Commission – make disciples of all nations – because that’s what God talked to them about. Some commentators think so, and it’s certainly possible.

I’ve got a different idea I want you to think about.

These were church leaders, leading church, seeking God’s direction in church, so I think they were just asking, “OK, so what are we as a church supposed to be doing?” Remember, they didn’t have the New Testament to guide them.

If so, the fact that God directed them right back to the Great Commission is very important. Could they have been overlooking or neglecting this important command?

Maybe you’re thinking, “They wouldn’t have forgotten about the importance of the Great Commission to the church!” I’m not so sure about that. It certainly seems like a great number of our churches today have forgotten it, or at least shortened it so they don’t have to worry about the “of all nations” part.

“But they had such great leaders,” you might object. Shucks, we have some awfully good leaders in churches … who seem to have forgotten at least the “of all nations” part of the Great Commission.

And it wasn’t all that long before this that the church at Jerusalem had been declared a failure. For all the good stuff that went on, they neglected the command that many of them had heard directly from Jesus, and God had to scatter them to remind the church of her purpose.

Makes you wonder why that Jerusalem church is seen as a model church, but that’s another topic.

The point is, God told and then showed the church at Jerusalem that He was serious about this “make disciples of all nations” thing. And then in Antioch, when the leaders asked, “What now?” God replied with the same direction.

What do you think that says about the relationship between each local church and Great Commission?