Taking the dangerous road

Of all the figures throughout the history of Christianity, the one that I admire the most and wish to identify with even more is the apostle Paul. The man was an absolute banshee for Jesus! In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 he recounts the many beatings and dangers that he faced as he labored to make the name of Jesus famous. If you look up the entry "spiritual stud" in a Bible dictionary you will find a one word definition: Paul.

In a nutshell, Paul's story begins with his incredible conversion on a road to Damascus that he was traveling on en route to persecute Christians. A devout Jew, Paul hated anything associated with Jesus until he met Him face to face. Yet once he met Jesus everything changed. Now he was zealous for the gospel and stopped at nothing to see men and women of all nationalities and religious backgrounds meet the Christ who had also set him free.

After several journeys to plant churches and encourage existing Christian churches, Paul travels to Jerusalem knowing that trouble is waiting for him there. Held for a few years as a prisoner, he finally appears before a man named Festus who is the current governor of Caesarea where he was currently being held. Long story short, Paul refused to receive a trial in Jerusalem for the bogus charges that the Jews had brought against him but instead appealed to Caesar, which meant that he would be transferred to the great city of Rome to answer to the charges against him.

Agrippa, the king of Palestine at the time, traveled to Caesarea and along with Festus heard Paul's compelling testimony. However, after conferring with each other, Festus and Agrippa came to a sobering conclusion about Paul: "This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar."

Many might see this as an ironic tragedy. Had Paul just agreed to face trial where he was then he would have been a free man, able to continue on his ministry throughout Palestine and Asia. Now he's going to be transported to Rome where his fate would be all but certain. But I don't think Paul saw it that way. He relished the opportunity to go to the first century "sin city" so that he could proclaim the gospel in a place that was as dark and destitute as any on earth.

Paul chose to go where he didn't have to go so that he could share what he couldn't keep to himself. How often do we avoid potentially dangerous or scary situations because we prefer security or comfort? I'm not talking about going to Africa as a missionary or China to smuggle in Bibles. I am referring to things such as not engaging our neighbors who are lost; keeping our kids from playing or associating with "those other kids" because of the differences between them; avoiding interaction with other races or socioeconomic groups; keeping your kids out of public schools so that you can protect them (Note: Don't read too much into this one. If you home school, I respect your choice and have thought of it myself. But for me and my wife, we send our kids to public school because we believe it is a ministry opportunity that God has opened up for us); the list goes on and on.

Do you relish chances to share the gospel and shine the light of Christ in dark places? Paul did and oh how I desire that same kind of boldness and resolution that he had.