Removing the Stumbling Blocks

Tonight our passage in Acts introduces to a knew face… a new name… that would do great works as a part of the First Church. If you have been with us on Wednesday nights, you have a pretty good idea of what this guy was all about. His name… is Timothy and he is about to enter into ministry with Paul and Silas.

Who is Timothy? Acts 16:1-2 introduces the young fellow. “Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.”

First off, I want to look at his background. Timothy’s mom is identified as a Jewish believer, and her name is Eunice. Eunice is a person who is identified by Paul as being one of “sincere faith.” This sincere faith did not start with Eunice, however, but started in her mother Lois, who is also identified as one of “sincere faith.” Paul saw this faith in both Lois and Eunice and he expressed to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5, he is persuaded this same sincere faith now lived in Timothy.

The legacy of sincere faith in Timothy’s family continued to live on in this young disciple. It was observable, noticeable, and clear. Timothy was a SOLID believer, a devoted disciple.

Secondly, the believers in the region spoke very well of this young man. What can we draw from this? Timothy wasn’t all talk, HE WALKED THE WALK. He belief in God and Christ could be seen and observed in his daily interactions with others.

His faith and devotion as a disciple was evident in the “fruit” that he produced. Jesus gave a teaching on being identified by the fruit we bear in His Sermon on the Mount. In regards to being able to identify true and false prophets, Jesus said in Matthew 7:20 ...by their fruit you will recognize them. He doesn’t say by their words… He says by their fruit. Do their actions, behaviors, and attitudes line up with their faith? Does their faith line up with the Word of God?

And there is one more thing I want to point out. Timothy’s production of Godly fruit would also be a result of choosing to live life according to the Spirit. Instead of displaying the “acts of the flesh,” he more than likely displayed the fruit of the Spirit - another indicator of Timothy’s sincere faith in the Lord.

Timothy was noticed by the other believers because he placed himself in the spotlight or tried to make a name for himself. Timothy was noticed for his honor and service to the Name that is above ALL NAMES! Timothy was a devoted servant of Christ.

Lastly, there is one more piece of information in Acts 16 we must address concerning who he was. We know that his mother was Jewish believer, a woman of sincere faith. But what does Scripture say regarding his father? Verse 1 identifies Timothy’s father as a Greek.

Timothy came from a mixed household. By Jewish law, Timothy was a Jew, because he was the son of a Jewish mother. But Timothy did not bear the “mark” of a Jew. Timothy had not been circumcised.

Timothy’s sincere faith and love for the Lord was very evident to all and is even noted in Acts 16:2. but as we will see in the next couple of verses, Paul does something we might not expect.

We pick up the story in Acts 16:3-5. It reads, “3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Now wait just a minute! This doesn’t make sense. Last week, just one chapter ago in Acts, we witnessed how Paul’s testimony helped persuade the council at Jerusalem that circumcision was not a necessary step for gentiles to become Christians! We talked about the importance of not adding to or taking away from God’s grace! And yet in this chapter, Paul does this procedure on Timothy???

Paul desired to take Timothy with him in his travels but Paul also desired to maintain his links with the synagogue for the cause of Christ. Because of this… Paul could not be seen to countenance apostasy. In other words, Timothy appeared to be a Jew who had fallen from the faith because he was not circumcised. By law, he was a Jew… But he didn’t bear the mark. THIS REALITY COULD BECOME A STUMBLING BLOCK TO POTENTIAL FUTURE JEWISH BELIEVERS.

it could close doors of ministry opportunities within the synagogues. It could cause other Jews to choose not to listen to the gospel message. There were several things this reality could threaten in the area of ministry. Therefore, in the name of keeping these doors open, Timothy was indeed circumcised.

TO BE CLEAR: this was not a condition of his salvation. Timothy was already a devoted follower of Christ. Timothy was already full of sincere faith. But Paul could not risk Timothy’s perceived status to become a stumbling block for those who didn’t know Jesus. And it’s important to note that Timothy must have agreed to the procedure for the cause of Christ.

And it’s that that I want to talk to us about tonight. Stumbling blocks. Things that might be in our lives that we see as harmless, but are harmful to our ministry.

Stumbling blocks are things we take for granted without really considering the damaging effects they might have. The tricky thing about stumbling blocks is… they are not necessarily sin… but they might cause others to say “no thank you” regarding placing their faith in Jesus.

It is my goal and my desire for NOTHING to exist in my life that might cause a person to stumble or to walk away from Jesus. I do not want any part of me to potentially close doors of ministry opportunity that God might be trying to open.

Quick example of a hard lesson learned. While in youth ministry and at the dawn of the age of social ministry, I was tagged on Facebook and asked a direct question regarding the topic of homosexuality and the Bible. This young lady attended our youth group and was searching for answers.

Without stopping to process the situation, I wrote out a loving but truthful response, quoting Scripture, clarifying the sin, but also speaking of the One who died to forgive us and deliver us from our sin. It was eloquent, biblically based… and I though I had knocked it out of the park. I thought it would make a difference in her life. I thought I was doing the right thing.

Then came the responses from her friends. They viewed the response as an attack on their friend who was “exploring” her sexuality. My name was smeared. I was accused of bullying and trolling the internet for young people to attack. This had NOT gone at all the way I thought it would go.

Was it wrong to respond to the question? No… she ASKED for a response. But was the manner in which I responded the right way to go? ABSOLUTELY NOT. What I should have done was said… “Suzy, My wife and I would love to sit down with you sometime in my office to lead you through what the Word has to say on the matter. Would you like to set up a time when we can get together?”

She opened the door to be discipled. I closed the door by trying to disciple through the wrong format. Her friends used that post to push her further to sin… and the rest is history. HARD LESSON LEARNED. It was right to respond… but the format of the response (social media) became a stumbling block to her receiving the truth.

In Acts 16, we see Paul work to remove a potential stumbling block for others from Timothy’s life… and tonight… I believe the Spirit of God is encouraging His church to do the same thing. We do NOT want to do anything that would cause someone to walk away from Christ.

But as we explore this… I want to be very clear here. There are some who will hear the truth and choose to reject the truth. This is NOT what I am talking about. I am in no way shape or form saying we should compromise the message! The message must remain the same! But what I am suggesting is that we take a gooooood hard look at the methods and make sure they point people to Jesus… not drive people away.

Finding the Right Balance.

Paul was very much dedicated to seeing the lost come to know Jesus. Paul went from persecuting the church to a becoming a builder of the church to becoming the author of much of what we know as the New Testament. Paul did all that he could to win the lost… but he was also careful to remove any stumbling blocks that might prevent people from hearing the good news.

How did Paul do it? How did Paul reach so many people? His methods were quite inspiring. 1 Corinthians 9:19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

What Paul just said was that anything goes to win the lost… anything but sin that is. Paul was willing to change his methods but unwilling to change the message in any way. The gospel remained the gospel. But if he needed to make some adjustments to his ministry methods in order to open doors for opportunity… hen he was absolutely willing to do it.

Again, this was FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL. A person cannot claim they are ministering “for the sake of the gospel” if their method compromises the truth of the gospel.

On the flips side, Paul was VERY CAREFUL not to allow for things that might cause a person to stumble or walk away from the gospel truth. Let’s back up one chapter and go to 1 Corinthians 8. Paul is addressing the issue of eating food that had been sacrificed to idols and what that might lead to.

Yes, believers in Christ recognized that the food sacrificed to lifeless and dead idols was just… food. It had no spiritual impact on them whatsoever. But what impact might it have on those who believed in the idols? Look at verse 9; 12-13. “9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.”

When it comes to the world, not everything that is “right” is beneficial. And if we engage in something that we know will cause of has the potential to cause someone to fall… IT BECOMES SIN. Why? Because you are knowingly pointing that person away from Jesus.

So on one hand, Paul says I will do everything short of sinning to see the lost come to know the Lord. However, Let’s not push this to the extreme. If what I am doing is leading a person away from God instead of closer to Him… I had better rethink my strategy!

Church… tour world, our culture has somewhat of an understanding of what Christianity looks like and sounds like. it is somewhat aware of biblical standards and if anything else… aware that believers ought to sound and look different than the rest of the world.

Maybe there is something in your life that isn’t sin… but doesn’t do anything to help your testimony of redemption. Maybe that are words that you use, tweets that you broadcast, political positions that you take, jokes that you tell, magazines or books that you read, music that you listen to, or movies that you watch at the theater that might make a person stop and think, “Man, I thought that guy or gal was a Christian? What are they doing here?”

WE DON’T WANT TO BE STUMBLING BLOCKS! We want to draw people closer to faith, not push them away. We need to work to find that right balance in our ministry and life methods that consistent with our claim to have fellowship with God.

Remember the verse in 1 John that speaks of our faith needing to be more than a claim? It says if we claim it but don’t walk it, we lie. And yes… the world will recognize and call out that lie. But if our claim and walk match up, not only is our fellowship with God real, but we have been purified from all sin through Jesus Christ.

Block Removal

Timothy was not circumcised as a condition to his salvation. Paul simply did not want to risk having doors of ministry opportunity at the synagogues to close because of this issue. Therefore, Timothy agreed to the method and joined Paul in his journey and Acts 16:5 reports that as they traveled from town to town, “the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.”

Now, we might never know what the results would have been had Timothy not been circumcised. However, this was one less thing the traveling missionaries had to worry about as they worked to reach the unreached in the area.

So here’s where we look inward and ask this question: what are we willing to give up in the name of opening doors of ministry opportunity in our lives?

Is there something… anything in your life that is a potential stumbling block?

Maybe you social media responses to more to turn people away rather than draw them to God. Maybe your attitude at work or in church is less than Christ like. Maybe life behind closed doors is leaving room in your heart for the enemy to bring destruction to you. Maybe your entertainment choices leave people wondering how a Christian could be watching or listening to such stuff?

I’m not here to judge… but the Holy Spirit is here to convict. I DO NOT WANT TO SIN by doing anything I know might be right… but is also harmful to my testimony.

With no one looking around, how many in the room feel God working on some things in your heart? is the Holy Spirit calling out some stuff? If so… we need to respond. We need to respond by giving those things over to Jesus.

Giving these things up means we are opening new doors of ministry potential in our lives. Giving these things up means we are willing to go the distance for the sake of the gospel.

PRAYER - Lord, we surrender these things to you in Jesus’ name. Remove these stumbling blocks from us one brick at a time. Tear down the walls and make new pathways for ministry in and through me.