Being called

Having begun thinking about Acts 13 yesterday its hard to just turn off from it as it is such an important passage in the book and the history of the church. It is the point at which the mission to be Jesus' witnesses to the ends of the earth really takes off. In Chapter 10 and 11 we see the beginnings of the Gentile mission as Peter goes to Cornelius and a church is started in Antioch, but it is really as Barnabas and Saul are set apart that the new chapter opens.

S/Paul has of course already had his calling back in chapter 9 at his conversion, but here in chapter 13 it is clear that the "Holy Spirit said "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."" Interestingly it is in the context of the church (v2) worshipping and fasting - presumably that means that the church as a whole were seeking God's guidance. Not content merely just to chug along but willing to go where God would have them go when God would have them go, and to send who God woudl have them send.

I guess we are all tempted to say guidance would be so much easier if I could just have a voice from heaven that said go. But the interesting thing is that though we are told the Holy Spirit said set them apart even here we are not told how he said it.

Paul and Barnabas are gospel minded people sent by a gospel minded God to where their are gospel needy people. If we are gospel minded, alert for those in need of the gospel, then God will show us when and where. It may not be a clear voice, it may just be a gospel opportunity that excites us, it may be that it is a risk that takes us out of our comfort zone for the gospel, it may be that it is something that we have the gifts and abilities to do. All of those are ways that God guides us.

A friend of mine used to have a No Fear T-shirt and it had this slogan on the back "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space!" Am I living on the edge when it comes to the gospel, on the front line every day where the fighting is fiercest but God is most glorified because Christ is most obviously my treasure.