18:5 When Silas and
Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and
testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and
blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your
own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he
departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one
who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Then Crispus,
the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And
many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.
Tension. Seems everywhere we look there is tension. North
Carolina, Tulsa, New York, the ongoing election. The root of all the tension is
the same - fear. Fear for black men needlessly dying, fear of terrorists, fear
for the future of America.
In Corinth the fear was that the foundations of the Jewish
faith were being questioned or completely removed. Paul was introducing new
ideas that were seen as a threat rather than hope.
Fear is toxic. It grips us and all reasoning stops. We become
instinctual rather than intelligent. Mob mentality sets in.
The Bible says there is an antidote to fear. "Perfect
love casts out all fear". There is only one source of perfect love. His
name is Jesus. When we come to trust Him fully, fear loses all power. Fear
flourishes when issues eclipse Him. Fear withers when He eclipses the issues.
He is greater than any election result. He will right all injustice. He will
bring an end to terror. He openly declared this life would be full of trouble.
He promised that this life is not even close to the whole Story.
Jesus or fear. When you boil it down to the basics the choice
is evident.
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