Wed. Aug. 6th :: Acts 8 :: Scattering as an opportunity

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem,
and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

(Luke 8.1b)

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It’s ironic that the early persecution of the church probably sped up the spread of the gospel as much as any other factor in the first century.

Church historians say that the pell mell flight of Christians away from Jerusalem ultimately contributed to the planting of churches in the outlying areas that up to this point had little or no contact with Christianity.

More recent events have triggered similar results. Not too long ago in China, Mao’s so-called ‘Cultural Revolution’ kicked out all western missionaries. Yet the communist plan to kill Christianity actually had an unintended consequence. With the Westerners out of the picture, Chinese Christians began to take ownership of their faith and contextualize the gospel in a way that we Americans—because of cultural differences—were simply unable to do. The result is an underground evangelical church in China’s urban areas that puts many of us to shame.

So perhaps there is a formula at work here:
With scattering comes opportunity for Gospel expansion.

But what does this mean for us?

Perhaps we should remember this in times of personal trial. When things begin to fall apart, new opportunities arise for God to be made real to us and others. Persecution and trial can actually result in God being glorified.