"Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."
Acts 28:31
Bold positions are the exception, rather than the rule, in appeasement-oriented societies. Politically correct environments tend to generate diminished moral standards collectively and label those who exhibit a bold presence as part of a radical fringe whose say must be ignored or muted. This pattern inevitably leads to two primary outcomes: passivity and complacency. As modeled by Jesus, Christianity should not be a passive, complacent devotion. The Savior of mankind was active, articulate, and approachable in His earthly mission. He was respectful of elders, authorities, customs, and governmental leaders, but not at the expense of traditions or sentiments that dishonored God. If a person brought shame to God, or profaned Him with a corrupted lifestyle, Jesus had no reservations calling someone into account. His holy boldness confirms that a firm faith and a dedicated disposition go hand-in-hand.
It is critical to note that although boldness should be seen as a positive force (as it strives to draw attention to truth) it is sometimes employed in a negative fashion, which accomplishes the opposite effect. I was made aware of this my first Sunday as a minister of music. Because I desperately longed to glorify God in my new role, I spent many hours preparing for the inaugural service. I carefully considered the selection of songs, their respective sequence, and what I could share that would amplify the worship’s meaning and impact. After the service, the pastor asked me to accompany him to the church foyer and shake hands with attendees as they exited the building. As my veins coursed with excitement and nervousness, several people extended heartfelt “thank you” and “we are glad you are with us” utterances. But they were all eclipsed by one emotionally-distressing verbal jab.
As an older woman greeted me she felt inclined to say, “You know we pay you to sing, not talk right?” In that moment, all the joy that I had encountered that morning evaporated. I went from feeling as though I was walking on air to feeling as though I had fallen from a great height. Everything I wanted to achieve at the onset of my ministry was somehow overshadowed by the boldly condescending remark, a remark that cut very deep. It took me awhile to learn how to view such obscure, isolated statements as outliers, outliers which do not appropriately measure my ministerial efforts in God’s eyes.
Boldness should be held in balance with a dynamic relationship with Christ. Had the senior church member chosen to realize that my usage of testimonies and Scripture reading was incorporated to enhance the singing, not diminish it, her exchange with me would have been drastically different. But because she chose to dwell on the fact that my worship leading style was unlike anything she was familiar with, she expressed her discomfort in an extremely brash manner. When not checked by the Holy Spirit, hasty thoughts usually morph into harsh words. Cynicism and derision have no business in a Christian’s dialogue. God desires for His believers to be compassionately communicative and patiently pronounced.
Paul was a missionary who was well-acquainted with the cost of spiritual boldness. He suffered a substantial amount of hardship and heartache because of his transparent faith. And yet his steadfast commitment to journey to the ends of the world to proclaim Christ’s love never wavered. This remarkable resolve was evident in Paul’s demeanor throughout the perilous travel he encountered en route to Rome in Acts 27. Despite fourteen days adrift at sea, the apostle never relinquished trust in God. In fact, Paul encouraged the crew onboard his ship to rely on God’s promised deliverance. Eventually, the sea-ravaged vessel was run aground on a sandbar and all the passengers made it to land safely, where Acts 28 continues the story. Disoriented, the crew did not know where they had crashed. It was only after some local residents met them on the beach that they discovered the island they were on was Malta, south of Sicily. The people of Malta were incredibly sympathetic towards the crew and showed them great kindness, going so far as to build a fire to warm the cold, rain-soaked survivors of a horrendous ordeal. Paul, ever a diligent servant, assisted in stoking the fire by gathering up brushwood. As he tossed a pile of kindling into the blaze, a snake, driven out by the heat, darted out and clamped down on his fist. The inhabitants of Malta who witnessed it assumed the apostle was a vile man for why else would he live through a shipwreck only to perish immediately after because of a poisonous snake bite?
Unfazed by the viper’s attack, Paul shook the creature right back into the fire. The spectators fully expected the apostle to die on the spot, or at least experience some swelling in his hand, but neither transpired. Instantly, the people of Malta stopped reviling Paul and started revering him. It is interesting to observe how rapidly the overall opinion and perspective of Paul changed. One minute, the apostle was a wretched mortal. The next, he was a god. Paul’s association with deity and the reference to Justice, a Greek goddess (Acts. 28:4), highlight the depth of false doctrine that permeated Malta. The island’s inhabitants were spiritually subjugated to polytheism, which was common in Greco-Roman culture.
Even though the residents of Malta were under the spell of a manmade religion, they continued to treat the Rome-bound prisoner caravan with tremendous hospitality. The crew was taken to the home of a leading official on the island, a man named Publius. For three days, the marooned party received food and shelter at Publius’s estate. During that time, Publius was in the midst of a personal crisis. His father had contracted an illness. Physically weak, the older gentleman was bedridden. As he happened to be staying in Publius’s home, Paul went to see Publius’s father. After praying, the apostle placed his hands on the senior adult and healed him. Word of this miracle soon spread throughout Malta. Ailing people all across the island flocked to Paul for supernatural mending. Per Acts 28:9, all that came to the apostle were cured of their afflictions.
The citizens of Malta were so grateful for the apostle’s supplication-filled touch that they furnished him and the crew with all the supplies they required to get to Rome. After three months, the prisoner caravan put out to sea on an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in Malta. When they passed through assorted ports, the crew finally reached Rome. Before Paul ventured into the capital city, he was greeted by believers in the region. When the apostle beheld the men converging on him, he was encouraged that Christianity’s spiritual fire had expanded and thus he praised God.In Rome, Paul was granted a favorable custody. He lived under house arrest with one soldier assigned to guard him. The time Paul spent awaiting the continuation of his trial (some two years) allowed him the opportunity to write letters to his fellow disciples scattered abroad. This period produced several epistles, including: Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians. The aforementioned correspondence with the churches was later preserved and canonized in Scripture, which has deepened peoples’ knowledge of Christ’s grace for many centuries.
After three days in Rome, Paul requested that the resident Jewish leaders meet with him. The apostle asked the Hebrew elders to convene in his quarters. When everyone assembled, the apostle summarized the situation surrounding his arrest. Once again, Paul professed that he was innocent of violating the laws and customs of his Hebrew ancestors. This claim was confirmed by several Roman civil and governmental powers who failed to find punishable fault in the apostle’s actions.
The Jewish leaders informed Paul that they had obtained no notes from Judea concerning him. The absence of a report regarding the apostle may indicate that the winter storms had delayed the delivery of dispatches, or it could be that the priests and elders in Judea had abandoned their grudge with Paul when a great geographical distance was placed between them. Either way, the Jewish leaders in Rome showed no sign that they were predisposed to contend with Paul. In fact, they proposed that Paul clarify his precepts on a separate occasion.
A day was subsequently arranged to provide Paul the platform to offer his testimony. The response to this event was staggering. Large numbers of people went to hear Paul. The apostle evangelized from morning till night in an attempt to prove that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies written about in the Old Testament. Some were convinced Paul’s message was true; some were not. Some began to leave when Paul cited Isaiah 6:9-10, a passage which reprimanded the nation of Israel for stubbornly rejecting God. Paul understood few in the room believed Jesus was the only begotten Son of God, Who was raised to life three days after His sacrificial death at Calvary. He affirmed that the spiritual obstinacy which personified the Jewish forefathers was just as prevalent in the present generation’s refusal to acknowledge Jesus’ salvation.
Intending to spur his kinsmen to find redemption in Christ, Paul said the Gentile people, unlike many Israelites, possessed open ears and receptive hearts (when it came to the legacy and ministry of Jesus). This jealousy-inducing tactic did little to move the Jewish people in Rome from their cantankerous mindset. Many walked away unchanged. Thereafter, Paul lived in a rented house for two years and welcomed all who visited him. Boldly and without hindrance, Paul preached and taught about the kingdom of God.
Luke’s exclusion of any follow-on details regarding Paul’s legal proceedings may mean that Luke completed this book before he learned the outcome of the apostle’s case. Or perhaps Luke purposefully withheld the results of Paul’s hearing because it did not heighten the realization that the Holy Spirit did an incredible work through Paul (and so many other believers). Tradition says the apostle was acquitted of his charges but then rearrested and executed. Regardless, Paul’s tenacious evangelistic outpouring, as recorded in Acts 28:31, ensured that the gospel was heralded throughout the Roman Empire, which thereby helped solidify Christianity as a spiritual mainstay rather than a transitory religion.
According to the final verse of the final chapter of Acts, Paul vigorously served God and talked about the Lord persistently in Rome. His motivation to tarry on in redemptive endeavors reveals three characteristics of spiritual boldness. One, boldness possesses a confident spirit. Paul not only preached, but he preached boldly. His sermons contained a sense of fervency and confidence. This confidence did not derive from Paul’s intellectual prowess or acumen, although the apostle enjoyed a stout academic and religious pedigree. No, Paul’s confidence came from the power of the Holy Spirit, Who was mightily effective in his God-ordained labor.
Confidence is often associated with pride and arrogance, but, by definition, it is a state of conviction. Clearly, Paul was a man of great conviction. His bold spirit and bold stance persevered in spite of extensive ridicule and pushback. He refused to allow momentary sufferings, like shipwrecks, snakebites, or scoffers, to take his focus off of Christ’s calling: turning people from sin’s darkness towards heaven’s light. His resoluteness was emboldened through the power of the Holy Spirit, in Whom Paul’s confidence was wisely placed.
Two, boldness possesses a charged voice. Paul preached boldly and he preached boldly without hindrance. Even though it would have been in his best interest from a fleshly perspective to circumvent attention or upset any local citizens who could negatively influence the apostle’s trial, Paul unfailingly spoke about Jesus Christ. His zeal for the things of God compelled him to not be silent or scared of worldly powers. Paul’s commission was directly from Christ and, until the Lord rescinded it, he would continue to make his charged voice known.
Three, boldness possesses a Christ-centered message. The theme of Paul’s ongoing declaration centered on the life of Jesus. He thought about Christ. He testified about Christ. He taught about Christ. Scarcely a discussion transpired that Paul did not mention the Son of God. Through Paul’s example, we see that a mind occupied with the considerations of Christ begets a mouth occupied with conversations of Christ. As unfinished as Acts may seem, given that there is no additional information about Paul’s last days (or most of the other apostles for that matter), this New Testament book has an appropriate ending. In closing with Paul’s persistent sermonizing of God’s kingdom (in the face of civil prosecution and carnal persecution), Luke leaves readers with the invitation to proclaim the goodness of Jesus Christ. Paul’s example is a call to grow in our walk with God. A challenge to trumpet the love of Jesus, the Savior of the world. May we, like Paul, choose to be a part of the Holy Spirit’s activity and preach Christ wherever He may guide us.
Does your life boldly herald the greatness of God’s kingdom and the goodness of Jesus Christ?
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