Thirty Years That Changed the World: The Book Acts for Today by Michael Green

Author:Michael Green
Language: eng
Format: epub

Samaria

Much could be said about church planting in Samaria (8:If), but two principles in particular seem to emerge from the account in Acts. And once again, neither of them is very characteristic of the contemporary church.

The first one is spiritual gifts. Few subjects so polarize Christian opinion as this. At Samaria 'when the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that city.' (8:7-8). These gifts were real. There is abundant evidence from all over the world that they have not died out. God does entrust them to Christians who really want them, and are prepared to exercise them. Very often a healing or deliverance leaves people wide open for the gospel in our own day, as it did in Samaria. I think of a colleague of mine, who would never think of himself as a church planter. But that is what John was. A whimsical upper-class person who collected butterflies - who more unlikely to he a church planter? I well recall the day he took over a tiny church, where nothing significant was happening. It was sustained by a small group of elderly ladies praying God to restore what it had been. But through John people in that parish saw healings, and some were converted by them. They saw exorcisms, and some were converted by them. That church is now packed with a lively, believing congregation. We must neither be afraid of these gifts, nor go hunting them: gift-hunting is an unattractive facet of some aspects of modern Christianity. The Lord will give gifts, when we will give ourselves to his Holy Spirit, and allow him to flood us. I do believe that when the Lord commanded his followers to go, preach and heal, he meant it, and that this was to be a paradigm for Christians. To be sure, healing is never guaranteed in this life: but neither is new birth, when we preach the gospel. The whole thing is provisional, in our fallen world. But that is no reason to attempt nothing!

The second thing which fired the mission at Samaria was costly reconciliation. That is a major help in mission. Why did these people have to come from Jerusalem and lay hands upon the Samaritans? 'Aha!' say the Pentecostals, `In order that they might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.' `Aha!' say the Episcopalians, `In order that they might be confirmed.' The very same passage is adduced to support two utterly incompatible theologies! It could be that both sides have a little bit to learn.

Reflect for a moment. There had been a mighty chasm between Samaria and Jerusalem for hundreds of years. So what would have happened if the Holy Spirit fell on these new believers at Samaria? There would have been an apartheid church at Samaria, growing up in separate development from the Jerusalem church.

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