WHAT MOTIVATED PAUL
We live in a world where a lot of people don’t believe in God. But not only that, many people who do believe in God are not exactly passionate about telling those who don’t believe in God about him.
What will motivate us to tell people about Jesus? That’s our subject today.
Over the past month or so we’ve been looking at the apostle Paul in the book of Acts. Today, we reach the point in Paul’s ministry when he came to the beautiful city of Athens.
Paul is often described as the greatest missionary of all time so he’s certainly someone to learn from. What motivated HIM? But before we think about what motivated him, I’d like us to get a sense of just how motivated, how determined, he was.
PAUL WAS DETERMINED
We’re in our fifth talk on Paul in the book of Acts. In Acts 7 and 8, Saul, as he was called then, is persecuting the church. But in Acts 9, there’s a total turnaround. Jesus appears to Saul and he acknowledges him as Lord. But Acts 9 ends with the Jews plotting to kill Saul.
Acts goes back to the story of Peter for a few chapters. But from Acts 13, Acts really centres on Saul. He now stops using his Hebrew name, Saul, and uses his Latin name, Paul.
At the beginning of Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas set out on a missionary journey. But Acts 13 ends with the Jews driving Paul and Barnabas out of Pisidian Antioch.
In Acts 14 they continue to preach. But Paul and Barnabas come close to being stoned in Iconium and Paul IS stoned in Lystra.
In Acts 16 Paul sets off on a second missionary journey, this time with Silas. They’re joined by Timothy and probably also Luke. Paul feels God calling him and his companions to Macedonia in Greece. They get there – and almost as soon as they do, he and Silas are beaten and thrown into prison. Acts 16 ends with Paul and his companions being escorted out of Philippi.
THIS IS THE PATTERN OF PAUL’S MISSION. In most cities he goes to there’s initial interest. Then there’s opposition, often from the Jews. Then there’s civic unrest. Finally, Paul and his companions have to leave.
But in each case, Paul gets up, shakes himself down, and presses on. I hope you’re getting the idea. Paul was VERY determined to share the gospel! The question is WHY? What motivated Paul? What made him so determined?
I’m going to suggest three things which motivated Paul. There are two things that are not in our passage today and one thing that is. I hope that as we think about what motivated Paul we’ll find the same things motivating us.
A SENSE OF GOD’S CALL
The first thing that motivated Paul to do mission was his sense of call.
Earlier in my life I was involved in overseas mission. When someone offers to serve overseas, mission organizations want to know if the person feels CALLED.
Jesus appeared to Paul on the Damascus road. There’s an account of it in Acts 9 but Paul retells what happened in Acts 22 and in Acts 26 and he gives more detail. In Acts 26, Paul is speaking to King Agrippa. He tells King Agrippa that Jesus appeared to him and told him that he was APPOINTING him as a servant and witness, specifically to the Gentiles [Acts 22:16].
Paul sometimes says that Jesus CALLED him. But here, Jesus uses the word APPOINT. I like that word! Jesus is the boss. We are servants. Jesus says, ‘You do this.’ He APPOINTS Paul. Paul has a job to do – and Jesus gave it to him. In six of Paul’s letters, his opening words are ‘Paul, AN APOSTLE.’
Do we feel the same motivation? Has God called US to do something? Has he given US a job to do?
God gives some people a specific calling. In Baptist churches we talk informally about a church calling a minister. But more accurately, THE CHURCH doesn’t call the minister but recognizes that GOD has called the minister. I believe GOD has called me to serve him at Rosebery Park. This makes a difference! If I think that the church, as a group of people, has called me to be the minister, I’m pleased and honoured. But if I think that GOD has called me to serve HIM here then it becomes a lot more serious.
This sense of God’s call doesn’t just apply to ministers and missionaries. God can call people to all sorts of roles.
But whether or not we feel that God has called us to a specific ministry, we all have a GENERAL call to mission.
The last command Jesus gave his disciples before he ascended to heaven was the Great Commission. Jesus was speaking to his disciples but we believe his command applies to all of us. Jesus calls his church – that means us – to go out and make disciples OF ALL NATIONS.
God’s people still need to do this! An organization called the Joshua Project estimates that about 3.4 billion people – more that 40% of the world’s population – have little or no access to the gospel. There are also some ethnic groups where THERE’S NO CHRISTIAN WITNESS AT ALL. There is no church, no missionary, no mission agency. No one is telling these people about Jesus Christ. There are more than 5 million people in such groups. Reaching these people is often very tough indeed.
Jesus calls us to take the gospel ‘TO ALL NATIONS.’ He wants EVERYONE to hear the message of the gospel.
God might not call US to go to some faraway country. But he calls his people generally to go. Even if we don’t go ourselves, we can help others to go. We can, for example, support a missionary. Then we will play our part in Jesus’ Great Commission.
Jesus called Paul and Paul was very aware of that. Was his sense of calling what made Paul so determined? I’m sure it was a part of it.
A SENSE OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US
Another huge motivation for Paul to share the gospel was his sense of what God had done for him. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. He wrote that Jesus died for us … ‘that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised’ [2 Corinthians 5:15].
Jesus died for us so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him.
We might think that our motivation for mission should come from our love for PEOPLE. That’s true, in part. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. But that isn’t what this verse is saying. Here, our motivation for mission comes from our love for JESUS. Jesus gave himself for us, so we want to respond by giving ourselves for him. He has a mission so we want to join him in that mission. We’re willing to expend ourselves just as he expended himself.
This was a big motivation for Paul and Paul wants it to be a big motivation for us. In Romans, Paul tells us to offer our lives as living sacrifices [Romans 12:1]. Why? Because that’s what Jesus did for us.
Was this what made Paul so determined? It isn’t mentioned in this passage but I have no doubt that what Jesus had done for him was always in the back of Paul’s mind.
A SENSE OF INDIGNATION OR COMPASSION
Our passage tells us one thing which motivated Paul in Athens. Let’s look at verses 16 and 17.
‘Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the market-place every day with those who happened to be there.’
There are three words in these verses that I’d like to focus on: saw, provoked and reasoned.
The first word is ‘reasoned.’ Paul is reasoning in the synagogue and in the market-place. He’s speaking. He’s trying to persuade people about Jesus. Why?
The second word is ‘provoked.’ There’s the answer! ‘His spirit was provoked.’ Paul was distressed. He FELT something. The word that’s translated ‘provoked’ only comes twice in the New Testament. It’s the word from which we get our English word ‘paroxysm.’ A paroxysm is a really strong emotion. A person can have a paroxysm or rage or grief. I don’t know if the Greek word means exactly that, but it’s suggestive. Paul was either very angry or very sad. Perhaps he was both. Why did Paul feel that way?
The third word is ‘saw.’ There’s the answer! Paul saw something in Athens which made him very upset. He saw that the city was full of idols. By all accounts, Athens really was. Someone suggested that there were more idols in Athens at that time than in the whole of the rest of Greece! This really bugged Paul.
I don’t know what bugged him most. Perhaps he was offended that people were giving idols the glory they should have been giving to God. Or perhaps he was saddened that people were so wrong about God. Fairly much everything the Athenians thought about God was wrong.
Paul saw. He was provoked. And he spoke.
How can we apply this to ourselves?
I listened to a talk on this passage by John Stott. Stott said, ‘We don’t speak as Paul spoke because we don’t feel as Paul felt. We’ve never felt anything even comparable to the paroxysm of indignation at the idolatry of the city that Paul felt.’ Stott then said, ‘We don’t speak as Paul spoke because we don’t feel as Paul felt BECAUSE WE DON’T SEE AS PAUL SAW.’
Indignation or compassion will motivate us to speak. But to FEEL indignation or compassion we need to see.
There was an example of seeing, feeling and speaking just a few days ago. I’m giving this as an example. I’m not saying anything about the rightness of the cause.
My example is a demonstration that took place in Ottawa, Canada on Wednesday. It was called ‘1 Million March 4 Children.’ The demonstrators were protesting against what they believe is gender indoctrination in Canadian schools. At present, children in Canadian schools can choose a different gender identity, they can change their names and pronouns, and parents are not to be told! I don’t think a million people actually took part in the demonstration but a lot of people certainly did. They had seen something. They felt something. And they spoke.
As Christians we need to see, feel and speak too.
People in our day are very similar to the people of Athens. People in our day sacrifice to idols. The people of Boscombe, Pokesdown and Southbourne don’t worship Zeus, Poseidon and Aphrodite. But they worship the gods of money, beauty, health, popularity and perhaps a shiny car. People in our day are just as ignorant of God as the Athenians were. People in our day fail to give God glory, just as the Athenians failed to do.
Do WE see this? Do WE feel something? Are OUR spirits provoked?
CONCLUSION
What made Paul so determined to preach the gospel? What gave him the drive to keep going when he was constantly knocked down? We’ve looked at three things.
First, Paul knew what God had called him to. If God had called him, he couldn’t just quit!
Second, he knew what Jesus had done for him. If it was tough for him, it was certainly no tougher than it had been for Jesus.
Third, he saw and he felt. In Athens, he saw that God was dishonoured. Maybe that made him angry. And he saw that the people there were completely mistaken in their understanding of God. Maybe that made him sad. Seeing and feeling led Paul to speak.
All the things that motivated Paul should motivate us. And I hope and pray that they will. We want something of the determination and drive that Paul had. People need to hear about Jesus! They need to come into relationship with him!
One final thought. As we engage in mission or any other Christian ministry, we WILL get knocked down. We need determination to keep going. But keeping going doesn’t ultimately depend on us. God gives us his strength and in our weakness his strength is all the more evident. And the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. He comes alongside, comforting us and strengthening us. Thank you, God, for that.
Prayer.
Talk given at Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth, UK, September 24th 2023, 10.30 a.m. service.
