– But I thought you said-

Acts 16:1-5
by Brian Knitter

First, Paul and Silas went to Derbe, then to Lystra, where they met a young man named Timothy, whose mother was Jewish and father was Greek. Timothy would soon become an important part of the early church (two of Paul’s letters in the Bible are to Timothy), but I’m getting ahead of myself. The first thing Timothy had to do was to get circumcised.

“What?” you might ask; “I thought you said the council of Jerusalem had just said it was no longer required.” Uh- Yes, but think about Antioch’s continued observance of the food laws even though the food laws were no longer required. Antioch continued with the food laws because they lived in a heavy Jewish population. If they wanted any chance of converting these people, they had to first avoid offending them. The food laws then became a voluntary restriction for the sake of the Gospel. The same holds true for Timothy’s circumcision.

Paul, Silas, and now Timothy were going to places where circumcision mattered — wherever they went, they would begin their ministry in the Jewish temples. No uncircumcised person could enter the temple; and no one would listen to Paul, if his associate was uncircumcised. So, while circumcision was voluntary for Timothy, he did it for the sake of others and for effective ministry. History shows that God blessed Timothy in huge ways as a pastor, church leader, and trusted friend of Paul because of his obedience to the “big picture.”

Are you offending a neighbor by something you do? Is there something you could give up or do to make peace with your neighbor; so as to win him or her to Christ? Think about it and pray about it. Go beyond what is expected so you might win some to Christ.