Acts 17:31

Stop.

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Reflect on the people who have been most meaningful to your faith life. Take some time to thank God for them.

Listen.

…[God] has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. – Acts 17:31

Reflect.

It’s very likely you can think back to some important people in your faith life. Family members, friends, camp counselors, Sunday School teachers, pastors, leaders, and so much more – our faith truly comes to us from a variety of people. Sometimes, people become so influential to our faith that we can’t think about faith without hearing their voices.

We give thanks for these people of faith and their voices of influence. But because we’re human, we must be careful to keep the main thing the main thing. That is to say: the good news of God in Jesus Christ is the center of our faith, not any other person, place, or thing.

In the story we’ve been reading all week and that we’ll hear in worship tomorrow, Paul preaches to the Athenians in the midst of their many idols and statues. There’s no denying that the people have lots of competing demands and voices in their faith. Paul wants to help cut through all that. He declares to them that God has raised Jesus from the dead, and in that act, God has shown us that this is all that matters. All we do is in service to this truth.

It's easy to make an idol out of something. An idol is simply something that isn’t God that we’ve turned into a god. We usually think of things like money, power, careers, fame, or beauty as idols. But we can even make other people into idols. We can so idealize who they are and what they do that we miss who they point us to. Our teachers and leaders show us our Savior but are not our saviors.

We give thanks to God for all those who have pointed us to this truth. We pray that we might also have the boldness and humility to direct others to Christ without making ourselves into idols.

Pray.

God, you know all those in my life who have helped me trust and worship you. Bless them with your love and grace. Give me what I need to direct others to you in my words and actions, now and always. Amen.

Carry On.

What do you think are the most important qualities of a Christian leader? How can you live that out this week?