FROM TROAS WE put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.
35When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
37But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
38The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.
Original Meaning
IN TROAS PAUL had received the vision to go to Macedonia. After concluding with his colleagues that God was calling them to minister there, they left immediately for that area. They sailed across the Aegean sea and disembarked at Neapolis, the port city for Philippi, where they made their first evangelistic contacts.
Lydia’s Household Converted in Philippi (16:11–15)
VERSE 11 GIVES a detailed log of the journey, which “is typical of the latter part of Acts.”1 We find specific descriptions of the time taken and the places passed through; this is understandable since the author himself participated in this trip. Samothrace was a common stopover for ships “as captains preferred to anchor there rather than face the hazards of the sea at night.”2 Philippi was about ten miles inland, so they landed at Neapolis. From Neapolis Paul and company used the Egnatian Way, a famous Roman road running east-west with Neapolis as its eastern terminus. Some cobbled sections of this road are still visible.
The region of Macedonia was separate from Greece at this time; now it is mostly part of Greece, with a portion in the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Two famous Macedonian kings, Philip II (356–336 B.C.) and his son Alexander (334–323 B.C.), had led a united Graeco-Macedonian empire. Macedonia became a Roman province in 146 B.C. Philippi was a Roman colony, which means its constitution was patterned after that of Rome.3 “It was governed by two annually appointed chief magistrates (called praetors), whose police attendants were called lictors.”4 Note that Paul and Silas were brought “before the magistrates” (plural, v. 20).
On the Sabbath Paul and his friends went to the river outside the city gate, expecting to find “a place of prayer” (v. 13). Though “place of prayer” was used in those days for synagogues,5 this must have been simply a place where people met to worship God. It was necessary to have ten men to organize a synagogue,6 but only women were gathered here. Being by a river facilitated any ceremonial washing rituals. One of the first converts in Philippi was Lydia, a seller of purple cloth from Thyatira, a city renowned for purple dye. It belonged to the ancient kingdom of Lydia (part of Asia in the first century). This accounts for her name, which may have been a trade name—“she may have been known as the Lydian lady.”7
The interplay between the divine and human parts in evangelism is well expressed in verse 14. Paul and his companions went to the people and shared the message, but God was the ultimate evangelist: “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” After her whole household (possibly including her employees) was baptized, she asked them to stay at her home. Verse 15b suggests that it took some persuading for Paul and company to decide to go there. This may have been because she was a woman, possibly a single woman. Were the team members reluctant to go there because it was a Gentile home? We cannot be sure, but it is unlikely that Paul would have had such hesitancy. Luke’s interests in hosts is seen with the mention of hospitality in the homes of Lydia and the jailer (v. 34).
A Slave Girl Is Healed (16:16–24)
THE STORY OF the slave girl who was delivered from an evil spirit has similarities with episodes involving evil spirits in Jesus’ life. The spirits seem to have had supernatural powers that enabled them to recognize the divine source of the ministries of Jesus and of Paul’s team (v. 17; cf. Luke 4:34, 41; 8:28). Some suggest that the “cry could represent the little girl’s confused cry of desire to know God.”8 The girl is said to have “a spirit of divination” (NRSV, NASB, etc.) or “a spirit by which she predicted the future” (NIV).9 Today too soothsayers predict the future for gain; some are fakes while others do it through supernatural powers. This girl seems to have belonged to the latter category. Though what she proclaimed affirmed Paul’s ministry, he is “troubled” by it (diaponeomai, v. 18, which means “to be strongly irked or provoked at something or someone”;10 cf. 4:2). Why Paul delayed responding for a few days remains a mystery. But when he did attend to it, the power of God overcame the demonic hold over the girl’s life.
This miracle, which caused a significant loss of income for her owners, brought about opposition to the gospel (cf. also 19:23–28). Their official reason for opposition was that Paul and Silas were “advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to practice” (v. 21)—which the authorities had to take as a serious complaint. Clearly an attempt was made to alienate the missionaries and cause the magistrates to side with “us Romans.” Little did they know that the missionaries were Romans too (v. 37).
The treatment Paul and Silas received should not have been given to Roman citizens.11 They were “dragged . . . into the marketplace to face the authorities” (v. 19), “stripped,” (v. 22), “severely flogged,” and “thrown into prison” (v. 23) “without a trial” (v. 37). They were sent to the maximum security “inner cell” of the prison, and their feet were fastened in the stocks (v. 24). Brian Rapske explains, “The stocks normally caused extreme discomfort as the prisoner had to sleep either in a sitting position or lying down on the floor. Changing position to avoid cramping was nearly impossible.”12 It is not surprising, then, to find them awake at midnight (v. 25). The treatment Paul and Silas received shows that they “were considered wrongdoers entirely lacking legal and social merit.”13
A Jailer’s Household Is Converted (16:25–34)
DESPITE THE HUMILIATION and pain they had experienced through being stripped, flogged, and imprisoned, Paul and Silas were “praying and singing hymns” around midnight (v. 25). “Songs in the night” of suffering have been a common response to suffering by the faithful throughout the ages. “The other prisoners were listening to them” (v. 25b), and it is interesting that they did not escape when their chains became loose after the earthquake (vv. 26–28). Gemph writes: “Paul may have taken some deliberate control over the rest of the prisoners (as he seems to have taken up the leader’s role as a prisoner on board ship in ch. 27), or they may have just been too frightened to leave when he and Silas were staying.”14 The jailer’s near suicide over the possibility that prisoners had escaped (v. 27) is understandable when we remember that Peter’s escape from prison resulted in the execution of the guards (12:19) and that the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners after the shipwreck en route to Rome rather than letting them escape (27:42).
In an amazing turn of events the jailer rushed toward Paul and Silas, fell down trembling before them, and blurted out, “Sirs [or lords, kyrioi], what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). He presumably knew that, as the girl had said, they proclaimed “the way to be saved” (v. 17). Most people ignore such messages when they first hear of them. But significant events can make them open to the message—such as a miracle, an act of kindness, or (as here) the events of the evening. He wanted to know what he had to “do” to be saved, but actually there was nothing that he needed to do, for everything had already been done for him by Christ. All he was required was to believe (v. 31). Those who say that Paul in his letters is different from the Paul of Acts must reckon with this statement, which is in accord with his letters (and of Jesus in John’s Gospel).
The first part of verse 31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” presents the condition for salvation. Later on Paul will write to the Romans, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Rom. 10:14). Thus, Paul follows the offer of salvation by explaining the way of salvation “to him and to all the others in his house,” which Luke describes as “the word of the Lord” (Acts 16:32). This again accords with what Paul tells the Romans, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17).
When Paul extends the offer of salvation to the jailer’s household, is he saying that his faith will convert his entire household (v. 31b)? We should infer that Paul is offering salvation to everyone in his household on the same terms as he is offering to the jailer. We should not infer that his faith will save his whole family. As both the jailer and his household listened to the word of God, we must assume that they all believed before they were baptized. This verse does tell us that “the New Testament takes the unity of the family seriously, and when salvation is offered to the head of the household, it is as a matter of course made available to the rest of the family group (including dependents and servants) as well (cf. 16:15).”15
As is often the case in Acts, baptism follows immediately after conversion, and here the whole household is baptized. Were infants included in this baptism? We are not told, and thus this passage cannot be used as giving conclusive evidence for infant baptism. The midnight hospitality in the jailer’s home includes the compassionate washing of wounds and the serving of a meal, and it is spiced with joy over salvation (vv. 33–34).
Paul and Silas Released (16:35–40)
THE MAGISTRATES MUST have felt that the punishment meted out to Paul and Silas was sufficient, considering the trivial nature of their offense. Thus, they sent word to the jailer to release them (v. 35). Yet for the two missionaries to leave without protesting the way they were treated “could have set a dangerous precedent for the future treatment of missionaries and also could have left the Christians in Philippi exposed to arbitrary treatment from the magistrates.”16 Therefore they insisted on a public apology, which would ultimately influence the public standing of the mission and the church there. Paul’s claim to Roman citizenship proved to be a turning point again in Jerusalem (22:25–29).
Paul and Silas made a final visit to Lydia’s home to encourage the believers before leaving.17 According to verse 40, “they [note third person plural] left” Philippi. Presumably, therefore, Luke stayed on in Philippi and joined Paul again after his return visit to Philippi, at which time the first person plural reappears (20:6).
Bridging Contexts
OF THE MANY conversions in Philippi Luke highlights three of people with significantly different backgrounds: a businesswoman (who may have been single), a slave girl under bondage to a spirit of divination, and a jailer in a Roman prison. This choice is in keeping with the prominent emphasis in Acts on the fact that Christ breaks barriers that separate humans and so creates a new humanity. This theme of the church as consisting of believers from diverse backgrounds has often been neglected by evangelicals despite its prominence in the Scriptures.
Principles of reaching the unreached. This passage gives us a helpful example of how to witness for Christ, especially among the unreached. This was Paul’s first ministry in what we now call Europe. He started in Philippi, a key city, which accords with his pattern of going to key cities. Four principles of evangelism merit special mention.
(1) In Philippi Paul looked for what church planters sometimes refer to as a bridgehead. Shenk and Stutzman explain that “in military operations, a bridgehead is formed when troops successfully land behind enemy lines and are able to establish a small, defensible foothold which is expanded as more troops join the force. That first foothold is the bridgehead.”18 Paul’s bridgehead here was the place of prayer, where people met to pray to the same God whom Paul proclaimed (v. 13). This was the case in most cities he visited: If there was a synagogue, that was where he started. In Athens he went both to the synagogue and the marketplace (17:17). As we will see, this was because the Athenians discussed philosophy in public places. Their religious and philosophical bent made it possible for Paul to go to the Gentiles right away.
(2) Note the interplay between human initiative in witnessing and divine quickening in the evangelistic process. Paul took the initiative to go to the people and began to converse with them (v. 13). Usually people do not come to us in search of Christ, so we must go to them and seek for ways to turn the conversation to the things of God. Witness calls for Spirit-led boldness. We should also, like Paul, seek to persuade the people about the truth of the gospel. But ultimately it is the Lord who opens the “heart to respond to [the] message” (v. 14). Without divine quickening human witness is ineffective. Therefore the witness always depends on the Holy Spirit to bring about conviction and a receptive heart among one’s hearers.
(3) This section contains two instances of whole households coming to Christ at the same time (vv. 15, 34). This happened in Corinth too, with the “entire household” of Titius Justus (18:7). This is not, however, mass conversion, where individuals do not have a will of their own. It is the conversion of all the members of a social unit (a household). While this is not the only way people come to Christ, it is a common way in the Scriptures and in the history of the church.
(4) The final principle derives from Paul’s refusal to leave the prison without an apology from the magistrates (v. 37), in order to maintain the public standing of the church and to protect it from further harassment. On the one hand, we rejoice when we are persecuted for Christ’s name, and we know that persecution yields a plentiful harvest. Thus, we must never compromise our calling in order to avoid persecution. But we also know that the freedom to proclaim the gospel unhindered can be a great aid to its forward march. Thus, we must always seek to secure this freedom if we can do so without compromising our principles.
Partnership in mission through hospitality. Earlier we noted why it is helpful for traveling preachers to stay in the homes of Christians.19 Here we will reflect on the importance hosts have as partners in the missionary enterprise. Acts often mentions the names of the hosts who opened their homes for missionaries to live in and/or to stay at for meals or meetings: Simon (9:43), Simon and Peter (10:23), Cornelius (10:48), Mary (12:12), Lydia (16:15), the Philippian jailer (16:34), Jason (17:5–7), Aquila and Priscilla (twice: 18:2–3, 26), Titius Justus (18:7), Philip (21:8), Mnason (21:16), and Publius (who was at first not a believer, 28:7). John Koenig, in his book New Testament Hospitality, titles his chapter on the Lukan writings, “Guests and Hosts, Together in Mission.”20 Hosts clearly played an important role in the mission of the church in Acts, and they should do so today as well.
Responding to the demonic. Paul’s reaction to the utterances of the slave girl regarding his ministry (vv. 17–18) is instructive to us who live in an age when many forces are doing “good” deeds using supernatural powers. What she said was correct and affirming of his ministry, but Paul was greatly irked by it because it came from a demonic source. James says that even demons believe “that there is one God” (James 2:19). In other words, truth can be uttered by people through demonic power. But it must not be tolerated, for it further immerses people in demonic deception and bondage. As a result, Paul cast out the evil spirit from her.
Our passage clearly proclaims Christ’s power over the demonic. When Mark recorded the appointing of the twelve apostles, he gave a threefold reason for the appointments: “that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14–15). With Paul’s act of delivering the girl of the spirit of divination (v. 18) the apostles were continuing the ministry of driving out demons. This type of ministry was so effective in Ephesus that some Jewish exorcists even tried to invoke the name of Jesus in their activities (19:11–16). The calling to engage the demonic applies to us today.
Religion as business. Opposition to the gospel in Philippi (and later in Ephesus) was caused by loss of income (v. 19). Opportunity to earn money can be so important that it overrides nobler motivations for one’s behavior. The employers of the girl must have known that she was in a miserable state and that what Paul had done for her was, in effect, a deliverance from bondage. But they had lost a means of income, so they opposed Paul. Yet they couched their opposition in noble terms, stating that the stability of the city was at stake because Paul and his team were “advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice” (vv. 20–21).
Songs in the night. The emotions of Paul and Silas presumably were greatly affected by the humiliation, injustice, and pain they experienced. Later Paul presented this experience as part of his qualifications for being a servant of Christ (2 Cor. 11:23). But when they prayed and sang in the prison (v. 25), they were resorting to a time-tested method of responding to suffering. Numerous psalms have been written from out of the depths of despair (e.g., Ps. 27; 42; 43). Singing helps us focus on the glorious eternal realities that may be clouded by the gloomy temporary realities. It helps us especially because, when we cannot produce words of our own, we can use words of others. Note that the prayer of the early church following the outlawing of evangelism was also saturated with citations from the Scriptures (4:24–30).
Usually in times of distress, our minds hold on to eternal realities as articles of faith, but that does not necessarily influence our feelings. Our hearts remain engulfed by the problems. Songs help truth travel down to the heart, and the use of music, the language of the heart, helps speed that process. The objective truths we get from biblical songs challenge our subjective feelings; our theology addresses our experience. Moreover, the permanent triumphs over the temporary, and we are able to praise God from the heart (see, e.g., Ps. 73).
Joy over salvation. Luke’s report of joy over salvation in the home of the jailer (v. 34) is evidence of one of the most important themes in his writings. Nearly 24 percent (79 of the 326 instances) of words for joy in the New Testament appear in Luke’s Gospel (53) and Acts (24).21 The angels heralded the coming of Christ as “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). The sinner Zacchaeus “welcomed [Jesus] gladly” into his house (19:6), and salvation came to that home. When people find salvation, there is great rejoicing in heaven (15:7, 10). Even when believers are persecuted, they are to contemplate their heavenly reward and “rejoice . . . and leap for joy” (6:23).
After Jesus’ resurrection the dominant emotion of the disciples that Luke records is joy (Luke 24:41, 52–53). It is not surprising, then, that the fellowship of the first Christian community was characterized by “unaffected joy” (Acts 2:46).22 Their joy withstood the test of persecution. After the apostles were flogged, they “left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (5:41). After Paul and Barnabas had been driven out of Pisidian Antioch, “the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (13:52). Just as joy characterizes our entrance into the kingdom, it characterizes our life from that point on.
Contemporary Significance
APPLYING THE FOUR principles of evangelism. The four principles of reaching the unreached as presented above are relevant today. (1) We must always be looking for bridgeheads in order to penetrate a community with the gospel. Often the best way is to find some point of contact with someone in the community we wish to reach. Such a point of contact is usually established through a common interest. The interest may be related to a felt need that we know Christ can answer (e.g., sickness, insecurity, fear, marital problems). It can also be commonly held religious convictions, which is what Paul looked for when he made contact in a new community by attending a synagogue or a place of prayer. In Athens it was the philosophical bent of the Athenians (17:21–22). We have found that the love of sports, music, drama and adventure, and the need for extra tuition beyond what students receive in school can be effective means of making contact with unreached youth in Sri Lanka.
(2) The interplay between human initiative and divine quickening identifies our responsibility and reminds us that God is the one who ultimately gives the results. This dual perspective helps us avoid not only being lethargic about witness but also feeling ourselves under a bondage of having to produce evangelistic results. Our call is to be faithful in going out and in using the best methods we know; God will look after the results.23
(3) The principle that conversion often takes place through whole groups coming to Christ needs some explanation. These have been called people movements. One of the pioneers in this method of evangelism was an American missionary to India, J. Waskom Pickett (1890–1981), who studied what he called “mass movements” in India.24 He “pointed out that the principle of urging [individual] people to believe in Christ worked very well in the United States where Christianity was the major religion, and people could become Christians without separating from their families and friends.” “The one by one method, however, did not work in India among Hindus, because if only one person became a Christian he was thrown out of his family and caste, and suffered social dislocation.”25
Pickett’s studies had a great influence on Donald McGavran, the father of the church growth movement. According to McGavran, “at least two thirds of all converts in Asia, Africa, and Oceania have come to Christian faith through people movements.”26 People movements are not instances of “group conversion.” Rather, he refers to this as “multi-individual, mutually interdependent conversion.”27 Each person exercises saving faith, but this is done in consultation with and along with others in the group. In whatever culture one ministers, when working with non-Christians it is always helpful to take into account the wider contacts of the persons we reach. In our youth work, the moment we make contact with a non-Christian youth, we also make contact with his or her family. This step sometimes leads to the conversion of the family and always results in the reduction of persecution from the family if and when the youth becomes a Christian.
(4) As with Paul and Silas, we should do all we can to protect the freedom to practice and propagate Christianity wherever we are. If an unconstitutional law hinders the practice of Christianity (e.g., if Christian organizations and churches are required to hire practicing homosexuals onto their staff teams), they should do all they can to stop this. But while an organized “sit-in”28 like Paul’s may be acceptable, violent measures, such as those sometimes used outside abortion clinics, are never acceptable.
Sometimes because of the Christian principle of forgiveness we may refuse to prosecute those who have been unkind to us if we realize that such a course will do nothing to enhance the freedom to practice and propagate Christianity. Western powers crushed the Boxer uprising of 1900 in China, in which approximately 30,000 Chinese Christians died. The Chinese were forced by the Western powers into agreeing to pay high compensation for losses. Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission and several other Christians refused this compensation in accordance with the spirit of Christ. Arthur Glasser reports:
The Chinese were amazed. In Shanshi province a government proclamation was posted far and wide extolling Jesus Christ and his principles of forbearance and forgiveness. . . . This official endorsement served to diminish the antiforeign spirit of the people and contributed not a little to the growth of the church in China in the years that followed.29
Mission through hospitality today. We have already described how hospitality can aid in fulfilling the mission of the church.30 Today, however, with people getting busier and guarding their private lives more, much of what used to be done in homes is being done in restaurants and hotels. Are our homes as significant for mission as they were in the first century? The amazing effectiveness of home cell groups as means of evangelism and nurture should elicit a resounding “Yes” to that question. So should a consideration of the hazards of a traveling ministry in today’s world.31
The key to returning to this practice in the church is for Christians to open their hearts and homes so that others can benefit from their hospitality.32 We described how this attitude was expressed in a church in Argentina in our discussion on 4:32–35. Members gifted their homes to the church, but the church returned it the them saying, “The Lord . . . wants a house with you inside taking care of it. He wants . . . everything ready for him.”33 They were to be ready to open their homes for whatever God would require.
A key to recovering hospitality in the church’s life is to liberate it from the performance trap. When hospitality becomes a performance, it becomes a strain on the host, hinders true fellowship, and makes both the hosts and the guests feel uneasy. A week before I wrote this, I spent two days with my son in the four-roomed house of Albert Lee, the Youth for Christ director in Singapore. Because of some miscommunication, it turned out that along with four family members, there were six guests in the home at that time. Amazingly, I did not sense a strain here. That family had been liberated from the performance trap. Thus, I had the freedom to make a cup of tea whenever I wanted one (which, in true Sri Lankan fashion, was often)! I did not feel I needed to ask my hosts, for they had given me the freedom to get what I needed without feeling that they had to do that for me. A basic breakfast was at the table when we got up (which was late as a result of jet lag), and we prepared what we wanted. It was a lesson to me of a servant spirit that sought not to perform but to make us feel comfortable. Families that open their homes in this way can become key players in fulfilling the mission of the kingdom.
Opposing demonically inspired actions. Paul’s attitude of opposition to demonic power that told the truth about his ministry is relevant today. We live in an age that is both pluralistic and is experiencing a rediscovery of spirituality. Pluralism causes many people to assign roughly equal status to all religious approaches; spirituality causes them to welcome different expressions of the spiritual and the supernatural. This combination has brought about a supermarket approach to religion, where people are encouraged to shop for the gods that best suit them.
Consequently, the Indian “god-man” Satya Sai Bäba, who claims to be an incarnation of the god Shiva, is gaining disciples in both the East and the West. He performs miracles, directs people away from sinful sensuality, and utters words of wisdom that help them live “better” lives. His followers say that he is the Christ who has come for this particular age. According to the pluralistic ideal we should welcome the service rendered by Sai Bäba to humanity and affirm that his way is indeed good and helpful.
But the biblical approach is different. Jesus warned that in the last days people will say, “Look, here is the Christ!” and, “Look, there he is!” But, he said, “Do not believe it” (Mark 13:21). Our Lord went on to explain, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible” (13:22). These powerful “god-men” who are gaining many disciples and influencing people to move in directions that seem to be good for them are false prophets. We must be alert to this and seek to rescue people from their influence, just as Paul did with the Philippian girl.
This is not popular in today’s pluralistic environment, where acceptance and affirmation of other faiths is almost mandated as a part of healthy living. But it must be done because we believe that these forces, despite the temporary good they may perform, serve to further entrench people in bondage to Satan. After our Youth for Christ magazine in Sri Lanka had published an article about Sai Bäba, a top government official (who was a nominal Christian and an admirer of Sai Bäba), told me, “Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?” This is a typical pluralist attitude in such situations: “It may not be relevant to me, but it is relevant to others, and I will just leave it alone without poking my finger into it. After all, it could be genuine.”34 Paul was motivated by such a deep love for people that he could not endure the pain of seeing them under the grip of deception. He had to act, and so must we.
The demonic in Christian ministry. Except in a few pockets the ministry of exercising authority over demons was lacking in the Protestant church until the charismatic movement brought it back into focus. This may be because the Protestant church was influenced by the rationalism that characterized the modern era, unlike the Roman Catholic Church, where exorcisms have been carried out throughout the centuries. There is now a greater recognition of the demonic among people from all shades of evangelical thought.
Still today, however, there is a reluctance among many Christians to attribute problems they face to the demonic and to engage the demonic in their ministries. They point to the many abuses that have taken place through those who minister in this realm. Often demons are blamed for our sins and weaknesses so that people take no responsibility for their actions and no grappling is done with these areas. Sometimes demons are blamed for psychological and physical problems in such a way that legitimate remedies for these problems are bypassed and energies are expended trying to cast out nonexistent demons. Such abuses should cause us to be careful about attributing anything to demons without considering all the factors. It would be helpful for all ministers to read a biblically sound book on this type of ministry.35
When dealing with problems in our ministries, we should always ask whether there is a cause for the problem that needs to be cleared through direct action against the demonic. In doing this it would be best to act with the support of other Christians, remembering that Jesus never sent disciples for this type of ministry alone. We may also refer the case to one who is particularly gifted in this area. But we must always remember that even though we may be nervous and feel weak as we combat demonic powers, we are ministering in the name and with the authority of Jesus, who has conquered evil and the demonic. He is stronger than the forces we are combating, and his strength is available for us to use.36
Opposition to God’s work for monetary reasons. A monk gets angry when he loses a source of regular alms as a result of the conversion of some of his donors. The leaders of a church get angry that their members are giving money to a parachurch group that is doing a good work for Christ. The leader of a parachurch group gets angry when a leader from another region but working for the same group raises funds from people in his region. These are all ways in which opposition to God’s work for monetary reasons can be manifested today.
Here is an area where the principle, “It is better to be safe than sorry,” may work. We are well aware of Paul’s warning: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:10). Thus, we must be cautious when it comes to opposing anyone if our own financial stability is an issue. Insecurity about our such issues can cause us to act sinfully. We may choose to “play it safe” and not act when it comes to opposing someone who is threatening our stability.
Disciplining the mind in times of distress. Considering the number of Christians today who have not won the battle with bitterness over misfortunes they have faced, the prescription hinted at by Paul’s praying and singing may be important to us. The failure to win this battle results in a miserable Christian life. If we are hit by a painful or humiliating blow, we can plan revenge, give in to self-pity, or immerse ourselves in an attempt to get out of the problem. While this last option may be appropriate, if we still carry an unhealed wound, we may eventually act in unchristian ways. We must discipline ourselves to let the eternal truths of God impact the situation, so that the sting of the pain is removed. With that perspective we can react positively to the crisis—and singing along with prayer helps give birth to that perspective.
Sometimes, however, we do not want the perspective of God’s sovereignty to break through with the message that this problem will be turned into something good. We would rather keep our self-pity and anger and hold on to the myth that we have been permanently harmed. But if the perspective of God’s sovereignty breaks through, we will be able to have the blessings mentioned in Paul’s prayer in Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The new perspective feeds our trust, which enables us to look at the problem through the eyes of hope. That, in turn, produces joy and peace.
Emphasizing joy. It is important to underscore the biblical emphasis on joy in today’s entertainment-oriented society. Through relentless media onslaught of an unchristian understanding of pleasure, we may be tempted to think that to be fully entertained, we must indulge in something that is displeasing to God. To counteract such thinking, Christians have long been motivated to follow Christ by the so-called debtor’s ethic, which says, “He did so much for us. Now the least we can do is to live in obedience to him.” But when faced with the strong force of temptation, the debtor’s ethic proves powerless. Sinners look at us with pity and insinuate that we do not enjoy life. At such a time our resolve to repay our debt to God can be overcome by the promise of pleasure, and we can easily yield to the temptation.
John Piper, in his book The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in Future Grace, challenges the idea that the Bible teaches a debtor’s ethic.37 As one who has preached this ethic, I took up the challenge, but I could find no evidence for this method of motivation in the Bible. What I did find was that when Bible writers appeal to God’s goodness and sacrificial love to us, it is to show that he can be trusted to give us everything we need. As Paul said, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).38
One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the incomparable pleasure of true joy. As David said, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Ps. 16:11). What if we seek to pursue such pleasure in life? In our time of temptation to passing pleasure we can see how much more enjoyable is the incomparable pleasure that Christ gives. We will want to guard that pleasure and not let it be spoiled by lesser pleasures.