Making a BIG difference is not as unlikely as it may seem.
We have before us, today, two examples of small groups that turned the world upside down.
The first group: The hijackers. 19 hijackers have turned the world upside down. (Think about that number, only 19!)
Less people than it takes to fill two pews in here this morning have caused trouble all over the world.
19 people, committed enough to sacrifice themselves for the cause, changed our way of life.
Although we disagree with their methods there isn’t a person in the world that questions that they were devoted to what they believed in.
The other group is found in Acts 17:1-9
Group # 2: Paul and Silas (verse 6)
KJV, “These men that have turned the world upside down.”
NIV, “These men who have caused trouble all over the world.”
NRSV, “These people who have been turning the world upside down.”
NASB, “These men who have upset the world.”
Message, “These people who are out to destroy the world, and now they’ve shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear.”
At some points, these two groups are night-and-day different.
But in many respects they were both very much the same.
Some of the things that were different about them:
One did it to harm. The other did it to help.
One’s motivation was hate. The other’s motivation was love.
Some of the things that were the same about them:
Both groups believed that if something was not worth dying for it was not worth living for.
Both groups were equally devoted to what they believed in.
They both experienced resistance to their cause.
It only takes a few people, if they are willing to die for what they believe in, to change the world, for good or for bad.
Our world is different today because of the misguided devotion of 19 people.
Our world could be better if we had the same God-guided devotion of P & S.
Two interesting facts immerge as we compare these two groups.
In both cases
The motive defined the movement
Their message disturbed the masses.
Our motives define our movements
We contribute most to what we are committed to.
If we are committed to success we will be successful.
If we are committed to excellence we will bypass mediocrity.
If we are committed to an education we will experience the results of that.
But what is it that motivates us to do what we do?
If money is our motivator we will be miserable. (Ecc 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has money enough…”)
If pride is our motivator we are in for a fall. (Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”)
If we build a business at the expense of our family we will have a thriving business but a dysfunctional family.
Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
Proverbs 22:8, “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble…”
Job 4:8, “…those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.”
It has been said, “You better stand for something or you will fall for anything.”
So what is it that you stand for?
Making a difference is not the battle cry of cowards. To be agents of change we must be courageous. To have an IMPACT we must be confident. To make a difference we must be determined.
To make a stand for God it is not enough to just join a church. When Christianity became fashionable it lost its meaning.
At one time, the first thing expected of a new doctor or a banker who came to town was to join a church. There was a time when someone hiring you would ask you if you were a “church going man or woman.” (Today it is illegal to even ask that question.)
For us to have an IMPACT for Christ we have got to live for Him.
If we come here to be fashionable we are out of style.
Making a real stand is going to cost you something.
Our message will disturb the masses.
When you make a stand you will attract opposition.
Is it wrong to have enthusiasm and zeal for something? (NO)
We can appreciate enthusiasm as long as we share their same viewpoint.
We can even appreciate enthusiasm about something that we don’t like as long as it doesn’t infringe on our lives.
I can respect the fact that Niel Segotta is enthusiastic about the Oakland Raiders—as long as he doesn’t come over to my house on Sunday afternoon when they are playing the Broncos.
When someone is enthusiastic about something that makes us uncomfortable we oppose it.
When someone is enthusiastic about something that the majority opposes they are quickly labeled: Troublemakers.
Paul and Silas were troublemakers (But the trouble they caused needed made)
In today’s language they would be labeled Fanatics. Their enthusiasm for Jesus was extreme and their zeal was real. Beatings, jail or even death could not deter their devotion to the one who saved their souls.
Do you love anyone or anything to an extreme? Could you be labeled a fanatic?
(What, or to whom, are you willing to die for?)
I am a Chrissie fanatic.
I am a Caleb fanatic.
I am a Josh fanatic.
Most of us would die for our family and even a few friends—but how many of us would be willing to die for our faith?
The hijackers were that devoted.
Paul and Silas were that devoted.
Are you that devoted?
Would you die for Christ? If Blackhawk helicopters were to land on our front lawn today and terrorists were to swarm this auditorium and one by one give each of us the option to denounce Christ and live or to stand up for Him and die, how many of us would stand?
Make no mistakes: God is calling to that kind of devotion!
Matthew 10:32-33, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever lose his life for me will find it.”
We are called to be fanatics!
Before I lose you and you think that I am telling you that to be a real follower of Christ means that you wear a sandwich board to work or that you have to carry a cross down second street, look at God’s Word:
Paul in Athens—17:16-34
22-23: Like Christ, Paul met people where they were at their level of commitment but he never left them there.
32-34: Paul’s message got heard because he respected their right to think.
It says a few even became followers! One of those new converts, Dionysius, was a member of the Areopagus (the place where the group met to discuss new ideas)!
Today Paul’s speech is affixed on a tablet at the entrance to that arena. If he would have come to that group and belittled it or disrespected their right to have an opinion, his message would not have been heard. There would be nothing to inscribe on a tablet because Paul would have been ignored.
Modern day example: (Guy at a Rockies game, holding a sign, standing on a pedestal, with a megaphone, telling people they were going to hell if they did not repent.)
The argument can be made that if even just two people turned to Christ because he stood out there then it was worth it.
But let me ask you, and I would ask him if he were here, what about the dozens or maybe hundreds of lives that might come to Christ if he got off of that pedestal, put down the sign and met people where they were—and then challenged them to change?
He scared Caleb. And, as we crossed the street, there was a little old man playing jazz. One person behind me said, “I would much rather hear this guy than that guy.”
Listen to that, folks! People would rather hear “When the Saints Go Marching In” than be scared into becoming a saint because someone marched in to their life and disrespected them.
You’ll never be very persuasive if you are consistently abrasive.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Paul and Silas loved Jesus enough to die for Him but also loved people enough to respect them. Paul said, “I have become all things to all men that I might win some.”
We can learn a lot from these two small groups.
Just a few devoted people can make a big difference.
Misguided devotion is destructive but God-guided devotion is constructive.
Their devotion makes us think about what we really care about. Maybe even what we are willing to die for.
You and I have the power to turn the world upside down.
