Acts 13:13-17 (ESV)

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.”

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

The rulers of the synagogue didn’t make an open invitation to everyone in the room; they sent a message directly to Paul to deliver a word of encouragement for the people. They had to know who Paul is.

And the audience is obviously mainly Jewish. Otherwise, how could Paul say, “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt.”

So, why would they invite such a controversial figure to address the congregation? Opposition to Paul by Jews frequently got nasty. That ends up happening here too.

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. – Acts 13:50

So why do the rulers of the synagogue invite controversy and conflict into their midst? Did they not see it coming? Are they just foolhardy risk takers? Or are they incredibly open minded and courageous?

None of the above. Their actions make perfect sense when you consider how news traveled back then.

In a largely illiterate society, without electronic (or even printed) communication, news was carried from town to town in the memories of people who traveled on foot or by donkey. Everything was literally hearsay; news was typically imprecise or even inconsistent.

So the rulers of the synagogue jumped at a chance to hear, first hand, what all the ruckus was about. They didn’t have enough information to foresee a violent reaction.

Today’s news can be too much information. “If it bleeds, it leads.” The news isn’t designed to inform; it’s designed to make money (which is a must nowadays). They don’t broadcast things we need to know; they broadcast things that’ll capture eyeballs.^* In a sense, it’s not all that different from pornography.

We, like Paul, have some useful information to transmit. Our error is being too anxious to transmit it. Yes, it’s life transforming and, yes, it’s free. But we still need to wait for a cue. Paul got a clear invitation to share the gospel. Think about timing. God is in command and we shouldn’t jump the gun.

^*Weather forecasts are an exception. They do inform.

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