Day 42: Disturbing the Peace, Defending the Gospel

Paul journeys and preaches in some cities with names that might be familiar to us:  Thessolonica, Corinth, Berea, Athens.  Some of the cities are familiar because we'll be reading Paul's letters to congregations in those cities soon.

In the meantime, Paul's preaching incites controversy, as well as curiosity, and conversion, where-ever he goes.  The Jewish people who are concerned about the new religion come out and accuse Paul and his friends of "disturbing the peace."  Another translation reads something like this, "The people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also...."

It makes me wonder whether we can be concerned about turning the world upside down lately.  Sometimes the responsibility of the church is to keep the peace, but other times, I wonder if it's not more appropriate to disturb the peace, to shake things up, especially when justice is not being done, when the peace needs to be shaken.

Paul preaches in Athens, among people who love to hear "the latest thing," and gathers a number of curiosity-seekers willing to listen to him.  It's interesting that his sermon is quite different than the ones we have heard him preach before.  Paul quotes not scripture, instead reaching for allusions from popular philosophy of the day.  There are people who scoff because of his references to Jesus' resurrection, and it's hard to tell how many converts he gained, but he portrayed the good news in a new language in Athens.  It is still the job of missionaries to speak good news in new languages today.

In Corinth, Paul meets a couple who lead a house church:  Priscilla and Aquila.  He stays in Corinth for 18 months, longer than he has stayed anywhere else.  (We'll learn more interesting facts about Corinth a little later.)  In Corinth, Priscilla and Aquilla train another effective missionary, Apollos, who seems to be charismatic and successful in defending the faith.  For some reason, when I hear the word "Apollos", I think of someone really impressive, probably good-looking, someone combines charm, intelligence and eloquence.  For some reason, I'm always a little suspicious of people like that.