13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
This is a bit of a tangent from the chapter, but beyond just talking about Jesus, do people recgonize that you've been with Jesus?
What was astonishing, what was the standout characteristic about the leaders of the early church was that they were regular folk, not priests or pharisees or teachers of the Law (our cultural equivalents being pastors, theologians, full time ministry people), and that they've been with Jesus. I had to wrestle with this one a lot because I'm innately a teacher, and apart from being know for my past of easily being angered, I'm known for explaining and articulating stuff. But I had to admit that what was powerful about the early church wasn't what they could explain about Jesus. What was astonishing was that ordinary people could proclaim/live/love as bold, supernatural witness of Jesus Christ. And this wasn't just restricted to the people who were literally with Jesus, God was responding throughout the entire community in tangible ways. Later on he would shake up a prayer meeting where they were asking for more of this boldness!
It wasn't their theology that was rocking people, it was their testimony. 1 Peter describes the body of Christ as a "chosen people, a royal prisethood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light". Does that sound like it's centered around knowledge and understanding? Or does that sound like a people who are celebrating and walking with God?
I'm not saying teaching is not important, or studying the word is not important. It's God's word, we need to know it. I'm just saying that walking with God, being with Jesus, obeying and pleasing him, is even more important. That's why I've been talking about obedience all the time, because for one, if I have no desire to obey God, no desire to bear fruit, how can I be sure the Holy Spirit is in me (Galatians 5:21-23)? And if the Holy Spirit is the seal, the proof, of our salvation (Ephesians 1:12-14), and if I don't know if I have the Holy Sprit then I don't know when I'm at with Jesus. But that's a whole different sermon. More relevant to what we're talking about today, I believe obedience is the best teacher of all. Nothing enlightens a passage more than when it becomes reality in your life, and for me that has happened most when I've obey the Holy Spirit's desire and motivation to please God.
Are we seeking to just be well educated in things of Jesus Christ or are we actually walking with God? Are we actually witnesses of the gospel or am I just explaining it? That of course requires that we stop just studying about Jesus, but we need seek to go somewhere with Jesus, to live our lives in simple, joyful obedience. We have to pursue that if we haven't had anything in that regard.
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