I WAS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT when I took the commentary on Acts in the New International Commentary series by F. F. Bruce from my lay-preacher father’s library and read through it page by page, footnotes and all, over a period of about six months. I was hooked on the study of Acts! Around 1976, as I was completing my studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and preparing to return home, I again launched on a personal study, this time of the first fifteen chapters of Acts. I spent several months trying to learn what an evangelistic community should be like, all in preparation to my taking over the direction of the evangelistic community of Youth for Christ. Naturally the book of Acts has had a big part to play in our ministry, both in teaching and in application. A few years later, when my wife and I moved to a church where the attendance had dropped to zero and worked for its renewal, the book of Acts naturally became like a textbook. This church is now quite healthy, consisting primarily of converts from Buddhism and Hinduism and led by a wonderful pastor under whom we serve.
After having spent so much time studying, teaching, and applying Acts, I had a growing conviction that I should write down some of the things we had learned. But I felt that we should try to apply Acts for at least fifteen years before going into print. When that time came (1991), I began to despair about the possibility of a market for books of expositions by a relatively unknown author like myself, and I delayed the project for a more opportune time. But I kept preparing new expositions on Acts. I was delighted when I received the invitation from Zondervan Publishing House to write the volume on Acts in The NIV Application Commentary Series and when the Board of YFC granted me a sabbatical to work on this. I am grateful for this opportunity to combine my dual passions—the theology and practice of evangelism and New Testament studies—into one book.
My wife and I decided that, because of the ages of our children, this sabbatical should be spent in Sri Lanka. It was loaded with setbacks, especially as I had to suddenly take over as principal of Colombo Theological Seminary in addition to my much reduced load of personal ministry. I am grateful to my many friends, too many to name individually, who helped me get the books I needed for my studies. We do not have the type of libraries in Sri Lanka that contain the resources needed for a book like this one. Particularly I had no recourse to journals.
The one thing I, as an Asian, found difficult to adjust to is the format of the series that divides the discussions on the passages into three sections. My preferred style would have been to integrate the three areas into one discussion, which, I believe, is how theory and practice appear in the Bible and is also how we think. I am grateful for the patience of the Zondervan editors as I struggled to work within this pattern. I apologize for my failure to enter fully into the philosophy that permits the separation of original meaning, bridging contexts, and contemporary significance.
During this sabbatical, I traveled on many weekends (often with a younger Christian) for ministry in new churches reaching out to people of other faiths. I often traveled by bus, and observing and chatting with people during these long trips gave me a sense of Matthew 9:36: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Ministering among workers who had answered the call to reap this plentiful harvest, as well as among people who had come to Christ from other faiths (who represented this harvest), gave me a real sense of what happened in the book of Acts. I also spoke at a few YFC evangelistic camps, where I had the opportunity to commend Christ to non-Christians and to answer their questions about and objections to the Christian gospel. I believe these experiences helped me greatly in applying Acts to today.
My basic approach to each passage studied was to spend several hours studying the text inductively before consulting commentaries and other resources. I am grateful to my teachers Drs. Robert A. Traina and Daniel P. Fuller for introducing me to the challenge and thrill of inductive Bible study. I am also grateful to my teacher Dr. Robert Coleman, who showed me the great blessings that could be reaped through applying the book of Acts. Drs. Arthur Glasser and Donald Demaray helped me develop skills in using the Scriptures to derive guidelines for theology and practice. Drs. John Oswalt and Joseph Wong helped me grow in my conviction of the historical reliability of the Bible, which has influenced this study much. The footnotes indicate how helpful to me many wonderful commentaries on Acts were.
There are many other people I need to thank for their help on this book. I must thank the people connected with Zondervan and this series, who read my manuscript and helped in numerous ways—Jack Kuhatschek, Terry Muck, Scot McKnight, and Verlyn Verbrugge. This is the second time I have had the privilege of working with Jack, who has become both a friend and partner in the gospel and has helped me greatly as a writer.
My YFC colleagues did much to release me and reduce my pressure during this sabbatical. I am particularly grateful to Timothy Godwin, who worked hard at doing things that I should I have done myself. My secretary, Helen Fernando, managed to protect me from appointments so that I could be released to write. Mayukha Perera and volunteers S. Sugunaraj and Dilly Fernando helped me with my computer problems. Suri Williams directed the YFC work ably during my absence and tolerated two postponements of my return to YFC. My colleague at the Colombo Theological Seminary, Ivor Poobalan, read portions of the manuscript and offered valuable suggestions. The members of my small group—Mylvaganam Balakrishnan, Brian Blacker, and Suri Williams—were a great encouragement to me throughout my writing. Many friends and relatives in Sri Lanka and abroad faithfully prayed for this project.
My biggest debt is to my dear wife, Nelun, and to my children, Nirmali and Asiri, who enthusiastically supported me through this sabbatical even though I was exhausted most of the time and thus did not make a very good family member. It is a joy to dedicate this, my largest ever literary project, to them.
Ajith Fernando Christmas, 1997