Acts 13:44–52 "Into the Danger Zone"
The first time I walk into a new gym is always intimidating. I feel like everyone there can see through me. They’re like, “Oh, look at the newbie! He won’t last a week!” The regulars are just glad new people sign up and help pay to keep their gym open—as long as they don’t camp out on their favorite machines.
So I’m looking around—There’s all these people who know what they’re doing. They’re lifting weights the size of small cars, looking in the mirror, making duck faces—seem to be pleased with how they look. I catch a glimpse of an old man who looks lost in the corner of my eye—then realize it was my own reflection.
I don’t even know where the water fountains are, but I fake it—I pretend like I know what I’m doing. Casually wander over to the treadmill, because I’m pretty sure I know how to walk. But the weight machines? The free weights? The stuff that actually builds strength? I just watch other people do that the first few times and try not to make eye contact.
I don’t want to look stupid. I don’t want to use a machine wrong and end up in a failblog video. I don’t want to hurt myself and immediately regret all my life choices. So, I don’t try too hard and stick to what feels safe.
This is pretty much how most of us are when it comes to sharing our faith.
When we’re new in our faith, we hesitate to talk about it for selfish reasons.
We’re afraid we don’t know enough. What if they ask a question I can’t answer?
We’re afraid of rejection. What if they say they don’t want to hear any religious talk?
What if they think I’m weird?
We’re afraid of making things awkward. What if it messes up the relationship?
Notice all those fears are self-focused. See that? Afraid of what might happen to us, or how it might make us feel, if we share our faith.
So we do the spiritual treadmill thing. Keep it safe. We might talk about “being blessed” and “having faith” but we avoid mentioning Jesus. We avoid getting into the real stuff. We leave the heavy lifting to the “pros”—pastors, Bible teachers, that one weird friend who talks about Jesus a little too aggressively and freaks everyone out. They’re like the gym rat who always wants to talk about their workout strategy and creatine protein shakes—while I’m standing there still digesting my second McGriddle.
Sometimes we’re hesitant to talk about our faith with people because we’re insecure or don’t want to look uncool. Scared about what other people will think of us or what it might cost us.
But here’s the thing: fear isn’t going to make our faith stronger—it’s also not going to help anyone else.
Over time, as we grow in our faith, something shifts. Or at least it should. The thing we fear most isn’t rejection or how talking about Jesus might make us look—we become more afraid of missing an opportunity. Of realizing too late that we had a chance to tell someone about our hope but we stayed silent.
That’s what we’re going to see in Acts today—Paul and Barnabas walking straight into opposition, rejection, and persecution—the Danger Zone. And instead of backing down, they just keep going. They don’t let fear or social pressure stop them. They don’t hesitate. They know the gospel is too important to keep hidden.
We’re going through the Book of Acts line by line, we’re in chapter 13. Last week Paul and Barnabus talked about Jesus in the synagogue and the congregation was all into it. They begged them to come back the next Saturday so they could bring their friends and family. Now here we are one week later…
The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Acts 13:44
“Almost the whole city” shows up to hear them. Almost, there was that one guy who stayed home to water his plants but the turnout was massive.
Luke is probably using hyperbole here but it was a full house.
Which you’d think would be a good thing, right? They had never seen this many people show up for church before. But you know, mo people, mo problems.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. Acts 13:45
The Jewish leaders see the crowds, and instead of being glad so many people are interested in hearing God’s word, they’re threatened. They’re jealous of this crowd that showed up to listen to Paul. What the heck? Why don’t they come when I preach? What’s so special about him? What’s so great about him? He was obviously a threat to their power and influence.
The same thing happens today. The gospel isn’t only rejected because people don’t believe it—it’s also rejected because it demands humility. It tells us we’re not the main character, Jesus is. That He’s the truth, our opinions have to be weighed against what He says. And we tend to be too proud for that—that we already know everything about religion we need to know.
The Jews had been the keepers of the Holy Scriptures. They had been promised salvation. They had been promised the Messiah. They thought they had it all figured out. Paul was turning their little world upside down.
And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46
Paul doesn’t sugarcoat things. He’s like, “You’ve been waiting for the Messiah, right? Well, He’s here! We brought the Message of the Messiah to you first because that’s what the Lord told us to do—now you know.” And some of them believed but a lot of them didn’t. So he straight-up says, “Since you reject this, you are judging yourselves unworthy of eternal life—we’re moving on to the pagans.”
That’s a punch to the gut. He didn’t say God rejected them. He’s saying, “You rejected God. You decided you don’t need what Jesus did for you.” “You don’t think you need it? Fine. You don’t get it.” Unbelief is self-inflicted.
So God’s going to move on. He’s going to take the message of salvation to the Gentiles. Which isn’t a new idea—Israel was always supposed to share the blessing of God with the other nations but they hardly ever did. Remember Jonah? God sent him to the Gentiles. Remember how happy he was to take God’s message to Nineveh? He ran the other direction, God sent a storm and a great fish to Uber him back to where He wanted him to go. That’s a perfect example of how Israel refused to take God’s message to the Gentiles. This is the same thing all over again…
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:47-48
That’s a quote from Isaiah. God’s people were always supposed to be a light for the Gentiles but they were never interested in helping the other nations come to repentance and true faith. They just put on their blinders and kept walking on their holy treadmill.
Luke quoted this same passage at Jesus’ birth, saying He was going to be a light to the Gentiles. Well, this is when that’s starting to really happen. At this point, most of the church was made up of Jews but that’s going to change fast.
The Jews thought this was the worst news ever but the Gentiles were thrilled! They started doing happy dances—Jesus is for them, too!
Notice the mystery here. Those who rejected Jesus were blamed for refusing to believe. But the ones who did believe, it says they were appointed to eternal life and salvation. In other words, if we reject Jesus, that’s completely on us. But if we believe, God gets all the credit for appointing us to salvation and calling us out of the darkness into His marvelous light. It’s one of those things that if we stare at it too long, it gets weird. How about we just look at it like this: don’t reject Jesus and just be thankful that God is saving you. We need to trust that God is God and we are not—trust His wisdom on these hidden things that are hard to understand in this life.
It’s actually good news. We’re supposed to tell people about Jesus and salvation but the results aren’t up to us. This takes all the pressure off. The weight of saving the world isn’t on us—we’re just supposed to share our faith and let God take it from there.
So, the people who should have been the most excited to hear that the promised Messiah was here ready to save them reject it, and the people who were on the outside and didn’t even know He was coming, they’re the ones who embrace it. And they really embrace it.
And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. Acts 13:49
The ones who believe can’t stop talking about it. The whole area lights up with news about Jesus. The Gospel spreads like wildfire—just like it’s supposed to.
But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:50-52
Jewish leaders take their hurt feelings and wounded pride, set up meetings with all the influential people of power who will listen to them—and their wives—and stir up trouble. They run Paul and Barnabus out of town.
How would you react if you were run out of town? Would you get mad? Would you be tempted to quit? Not these guys. They shake off the dust and move on. Something you can only do if you expect it to happen. They were not surprised.
It’s the same thing Jesus told His disciples to do in Luke 9. It was a way of saying, “We did our part. Your rejection is on you. We’re not even going to take your dust with us.” This is the opposite of letting people who do us wrong live rent-free in our head. Let it go. Move on.
The devil will always try to use social pressure to shut us down—keep us from sharing our faith. Shake it off and keep going.
It doesn’t seem to phase them. Even after being persecuted, lied about, attacked, and run out of town—they’re still filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. How is that possible? Because their joy isn’t tied to how successful they look in the eyes of the people who hate them. Their joy is directly tied to the hope they have in Jesus. Nothing can shake that off them. They just want to keep telling people about it.
Sometimes I’m not quite that bulletproof. I can get discouraged when my big plans don’t go the way I want them to go. When people don’t listen. When they don’t show up. When they talk bad about me, try to shut me down. It’s not easy to keep my focus on what Jesus has done for me and what He can do for other people—instead of whatever I was tempted to measure my success by. That’s the only way joy can survive no matter what our circumstances. We have to keep our focus on what God’s done for us through Jesus instead of whatever is happening to us on any given day. If our joy depends on our success or how people respond to us, it’s going to always be really fragile. But if it’s rooted in Christ, what He’s done for us, what He’s promised us, nothing can take it away.
Imagine a world where Paul and Barnabus didn’t keep going. Okay, stop imagining that because that would be terrible. Unlike John Lennon, I don’t want to imagine a world without the hope of heaven.
Last Sunday we had the funeral for my friend Johnny who died a couple weeks ago. I told the story of how he came to faith in Jesus—a lot of people didn’t know it.
We had been around each other’s bands for years, but we didn’t really know each other until I started running sound for his group the Toy Subs as a favor to their manager. There’s a lot of down time at gigs between setup, soundcheck, and the show—Johnny and I hit it off and talked about all kinds of things. Movies, music, comedy, but mostly God. He knew I was a Christian—and he had a lot of opinions about that.
I remember one time he said, “I’m just not into organized religion.”
And I said, “Do you prefer *disorganized* religion?”
I never felt like he really heard anything I said about faith. Didn’t stop me from trying though.
About thirty years ago, I hadn’t seen Johnny for a few months and I needed a drummer for a show, so I called him and asked if he could do it. While we were talking, and catching up, he said something really strange, he said, “I have to help lead a Sunday school class.”
I said, “You have to help lead a *what*?”
And he said, “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you. I started going to church.”
The Toy Subs had gone to Japan, he read a couple books by C.S. Lewis on the plane. He said, “There’s a line in Mere Christianity that says Jesus is either who He says He is, or He was a lunatic, or a liar.”
Then Johnny said, “I don’t think He was a liar. I don’t think He was crazy. So He must be telling the truth. And if He’s telling the truth, then I need to get my butt back in church.”
I had planted some seeds. C.S. Lewis watered them. And God made them grow.
Over the next year, he devoured everything he could learn about the Bible, theology, church history—I’ve never seen anything like it. I had been at this Christianity thing since I was 14. I went to college to study these things. But he *bypassed* me. Big time.
So, I told that story at the funeral last Sunday. I spoke first, then another friend named Ben spoke, Ryan spoke, Kemper spoke—and the last guy to speak was Jamie, the lead singer from the Toy Subs.
He talked about how he wasn’t raised Christian. How when he went to Rice, the Campus Crusade guys really turned him off religion completely. How he refused to talk about God for so many years. Until about six months ago. He reached out to Johnny and said he had some questions about Jesus. And in January of this year, just weeks before Johnny died, he came home to faith in Jesus for the first time in his life.
After the service he came up to me and gave me a big hug. He said, “It’s not lost on me that we were bookends today with what we said—and it’s not lost on me that without you talking to Johnny, and Johnny talking to me—I’d still be lost.”
We never know what a conversation about Jesus is going to do. We never know how important it might be.
So how do we start? I mean, it’s not complicated, it just takes a little deliberate courage. Next time you’re in a conversation that’s getting real, try asking, ‘What do you think happens after we die?’ Or, here’s a great question: Would you believe in Christianity if it was true? That kind of gets to the bottom of it real fast. Or if someone’s struggling, offer to pray with them on the spot. Say things in your prayer that point to your hope in Jesus. You don’t need to convince them. None of these things are debates; just offer your faith and your hope in Jesus. Tell them you're a Christian and then don’t be a jerk. My conversations with Johnny took place over a couple years—just keep showing up, keep it real, and see what God does with it.
So, going back to why we can be hesitant to share our faith.
We make it about us—our comfort, our reputation, our fears.
We hesitate because we don’t want to look stupid.
We hesitate because we don’t want to make things weird.
We hesitate because we want people to like us—we don’t want to mess up our relationships.
But we need to not make it about ourselves. Do you actually believe the gospel? Do you believe that Jesus is the only hope for the world?
Because if so, then the real danger isn’t people rejecting us. The real danger is them never hearing about Jesus because we were too afraid, or too proud to say anything.
As we grow in our faith, we have to get to the place where it’s not all about us. And I’m not trying to pour a bunch of guilt on anyone—the weight of the world isn’t on you. Jesus already took that weight upon Himself for you.
He already faced rejection for you.
He was rejected, mocked, abandoned, and killed—so He could offer salvation to everyone who would believe. Including you.
He was faithful because you and I can’t always be. He spoke the truth when you and I would have stayed silent. He endured the cross so you and I would be accepted by God. He rose from the dead so you and I could be saved—appointed to eternal life by grace alone through faith in Jesus.
And now, His Spirit is in you. You don’t have to be afraid. Not even to speak up and tell people what He’s done for you.
Because the pressure isn’t on you to change someone’s heart. You don’t have to change their mind. That’s God’s job. He does all the heavy lifting in salvation.
Your job? My job? We just have to believe—have faith in Him. Keep moving forward. Keep showing up. Try to be faithful. Speak up when we have the chance. Take the opportunities God puts in front of us. See what He does with it.
Even when we feel like it’s the first day at a new gym. Even when we’re afraid of looking stupid.
At some point, that newbie fear fades. You stop just watching from the treadmill, and you start doing your own workout, lifting the real weight. That’s the only way to actually get any results. That’s when you build some real strength.
We get off the spiritual treadmill, going through the motions, not really getting anywhere. Not to sweat and strain until we’re strong enough for heaven—that’s not the point. Jesus did all that for us already.
And that’s when our biggest fear changes. We stop worrying so much about rejection, and become more afraid of missed opportunities. How can they know if we don’t tell them?
So ask God to open your eyes to see the people He’s sending your way. Open your eyes and open your mouth. And if that makes you nervous, ask yourself, “What am I more afraid of?
Making things awkward, or them never hearing about Jesus?” Not only them but all the people they’re going to tell.
What if I had never talked to Johnny? What if I had just nodded and changed the subject every time he brought up God or poked at me being a Christian? Would Johnny have come to faith in Jesus?
I would have never been able to reach Jamie. But Johnny did. (BAND, please don’t leave until the prayer—there’s plenty of time.)
Who is God sending your way? Who needs you to tell them about Jesus? Who do you need to invite to join us in church to receive the promises of God together—word and sacraments?
If we really believe the Gospel is true, then the real danger isn’t people rejecting us. The real tragedy is people never hearing about Jesus because we refused to tell them. Faith will always lead to faithfulness. Don’t worry about how much you know, or whether they believe right away. There’s no pressure on you to change someone’s heart. That’s God’s job. Your job is to open your mouth and speak. Your story, your words, your faith. Tell them about Jesus and don’t be a jerk. And when you are a jerk, show them what true belief and true repentance look like because of the promise of grace and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. AMEN