[Listen to an audio version here]
Have you ever been in a restaurant or business where it seemed the people were more interested in each other than you as a customer? Have you ever felt like an afterthought?
Peter Drucker, the famous business strategist and writer, began to realize that this was a general problem in business. Businesses would lose sight of the fact that they were there for the customers and become ingrown. They would become more concerned about their inward process than about their outward purpose.
The same can happen in the church, too. The church becomes inward-focused. It forgets that it is there for a larger purpose: the kingdom. The goal of the church is not the church. The goal of the church is to bless the world and to make an impact in it.
Today, I want to tell you about some brave men who saw with clarity what God wanted to do to expand His work in the world and acted on it. We don’t know their names. We just know what they did and the huge impact it made, an impact that is still with us today.
The Context
The first line in our text reads: “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled . . .” (Acts 11:19). This line hearkens back to Acts 8:4 which says, “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
Stephen had preached boldly about Jesus. The result was as negative as it was when Jesus preached. The rulers of the Jewish people, led by Saul of Tarsus, stoned Stephen and killed him. Saul later bitterly regretted it and ended up preaching salvation through the same Jesus Stephen had preached. We know Saul now as the Apostle Paul, but the Stephen was still dead.
However, God knows how to bring light out of darkness. Speaking of Jesus’ death, the Apostles prayed, “They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:28). They knew that God was working out a plan. Here God was working out a plan as well. This martyrdom was something God permitted and ordained for His own purposes. You see, the church had gotten stuck. They all stayed in Jerusalem, even though Jesus told them to go throughout the world. When the persecution broke out, they scattered.
The result was that they preached everywhere they went. Our text adds an important qualification, though. They preached, but “they were spreading the word only among Jews” (Acts 11:19). This is what was comfortable. These were people of the same culture and mindset. They could not yet break out of their comfort zones enough to go into all the world and to every people.
This was true in spite of the command of Jesus that was abundantly clear. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Instead, they only preached to the Jews.
However, we shouldn’t be too hard on these folks. Most Christians are only friends with Christians. Even among Christians, we get comfortable with certain people. Even when we know people, it can be hard to get out of our comfort zone. When it comes to people, we all really like our groups. We build groups with whom we are comfortable, whether these are groups that do the same work, have the same views, participate in the same ministry, are part of the same family, or have the same skin color, etc. It’s just easier to be with those with whom we already feel comfortable. How many of us would act in a much different manner than our fathers in the early church? If we were part of the church at that time, would we have broken out of the mold and stepped out of our comfort zone? What do our current actions teach us? How many people have we shared a meal with who were really different from us and didn’t conform to a particular pattern? No, these were people just like us.
The Action
But there were some brave men who acted differently. They stood out from the herd. “Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus” (Acts 11:20). Some of them began to speak to the Greeks as well. A few of them were bold enough to cross boundaries. They took Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations seriously. They spoke to the Greeks.
What a powerful lesson for us. When we think about advancing God’s kingdom, we can look to the great figures of Acts such as Peter, John, and Paul, but here were ordinary Christians who simply spoke to those who were different from them. They went to the Gentiles. They got out of their comfort zone. They crossed boundaries.
When I think of someone who crossed boundaries, I always think of my dear and special friend Hennie Vandersluis. As you can tell, she was Dutch. Her father was a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, a church that is by and large ethnically Dutch. However, her father went where most in his denomination would not. He started a church in downtown Kalamazoo among those of different ethnicity, background, and class. Hennie never forgot that lesson. She was a collector of people and relationships. She gathered people together from all walks of life. When she threw a big birthday party and invited all her friends, there was a dizzying variety of people. She simply crossed boundaries. She got out of her comfort zone. She touched hundreds of people. She left a light that shines brightly for all her friends and relatives in the way she loved people so well.
And that’s what we can do, too. Whatever your skills or background, you can cross a boundary. You can speak to people you don’t know. You can talk to people outside your group. You can start small. You can just start talking today to someone you don’t normally talk to. You can talk to a neighbor you’ve never talked to before. You can strike up a conversation in line with someone at the grocery store. After that, you can take another step and start going to places where you don’t normally go and connecting with people you don’t know. Then, you can invite people out for coffee, for dinner, or to your home. It’s rather simple. The only walls keeping us from doing this are inside us, and we can break through them. We have not been given a Spirit of fear but of power! As Jesus said, “You shall receive power.”
Then, you can share with them your life. When you do so, you can share your faith. You can tell them about Jesus. That’s what these Jews did. They told them “them the good news about the Lord Jesus” (Acts 11:20).
That’s what we can do, too. We can tell them of hope in Jesus. We can tell them of the love of Jesus. We can tell them of forgiveness in Jesus. We can tell them of the faithfulness of Jesus. We can tell them of the guidance of Jesus. We can tell them of the leadership of Jesus. We can tell them of security in Jesus. We can tell them of the friendship of Jesus. We can tell them of our purpose in Jesus. Whatever we have experienced, whatever has touched our hearts, we can share.
The Results
And what will happen when we get out of our comfort zones and cross boundaries to reach people for Jesus? “The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).
The phrase, “the Lord’s hand was with them,” reminds us that the work of restoring the world is ultimately God’s work. It is God who adds to our numbers. It is God who opens the heart. It is God who ordains to eternal life. It is God who causes people to listen. This is God’s work.
However, He does it in a specific way. He opens hearts and minds through people who are open to His leading like the Jews from Cyprus and Cyrene. When we cross boundaries, God opens hearts. When we go, we are not alone. God’s hand will be with us to do great things.
I have observe that whenever people of any denomination or group of Christians get a real vision to reach out, God blesses it. He does not let this vision go unfulfilled. It may not be exactly what they imagine, but God will use it in extraordinary ways.
That’s an encouragement for us. God will bless our efforts just as He did with the people of Antioch. There, they were first called Christians. There, the church thrived. There, the missionaries were sent out. Antioch became a platform for ministry to the rest of the world. And it began with men who were willing to get out of their comfort zones and cross boundaries.
So, what can you do? You can cross boundaries to love people and speak to them about Jesus. You can start talking to those whom you ordinarily would not. This is the adventure to which God calls us, no matter who we are. So, let’s step out. Let’s get out of our comfort zones. Let’s cross boundaries. Let’s do so in the confidence that God’s hand will be with us, and we will be amazed to see what God will do through us. Amen.
________