Two Life Changing & One Really Stupid Lesson (Acts 18)

I’m sharing thoughts each day from each chapter of a reading plan some of us are doing through the New Testament. Here are a few lessons I learned from Acts 18:

1. First: In verse 6, Paul gets frustrated with the Jews who aren’t open to hearing about Jesus, expresses his frustration, then declares that, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” But … later (Romans 9:3) he writes that if he could, he would give his spot in Heaven to unbelieving Jews so they might get to experience it, and in verse 19 of this chapter we see him go back to trying to share Jesus with the Jews. Lesson? You never give up on people who are far from God, no matter how frustrated you get.
2. Second: Throughout this chapter we see God putting people around Paul to help him with the mission. In verse 1, Priscilla and Aquila show up. In verse 5, it’s Silas and Timothy. In verse 24, Apollos joins the team. Lesson? Christianity, and maybe even especially church planting, is a team sport.
3. Third: The names “Titius” and “Crispus” appear in back to back verses. That is classic. The first sounds like a name you might hear at a Strip Club, the second would be great for a cartoon character on the cover of a breakfast cereal. Lesson? I have no idea.