Thurs. Aug. 22st :: Acts 20 :: Off the Flannal-graph

"Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the
kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am
innocent of the blood of everyone. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you
the whole will of God.

(Acts 20.25-27)

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If you spend enough time in religious settings you are tempted to stop viewing some of the individuals within the Bible as real-live people and start viewing them as something else: “Bible characters”—cardboard cut-outs Velcro’d to the flannel-graph, and painted up on stained glass windows.

This may not be the worst thing in the world but it tends to do something negative for me. That is, it keeps me from seeing Paul, Timothy, and others as ordinary dudes—guys like me—who simply allowed God to use them more than most. They weren’t supermen or comic-book heroes. They were just some guys that God chose to use when He started his movement of restoration.

This passage reminds me of Paul’s humanity. Here he is preparing to leave for Jerusalem (where he expects to die) and he just wants to make sure he ties up all loose ends.

The long section after verse 27 is even a little indulgent as Paul goes overboard making sure everyone knows that he’s been an honest fella. It’s the kind of thing I’d say, but not want written down. Except for Paul it was. And it shows his humanity.

Perhaps that’s a good thing. We need to remember that the individuals within the scriptures were not so different from us. If it that motivates us to step into the storyline then perhaps even passages like this one can be deemed inspired.

What say you?

PEACE.