[b]THE EXAMPLE OF APOSTLE PAUL[i]by Zac Poonen
We have a very great responsibility to demonstrate to
the next generation what Christlikeness really means.
People who look at us – the way we live, preach and
serve - should be able to see in us what it means to be
a true servant of the Lord, in the style of the apostles
and prophets of old, and not in the style of 20th-century
film-star-like evangelists.
Whether we realise it or not, we’re leaving behind us
an image, wherever we go – an image that’s going to
remain in people’s minds long after we’ve gone away
and long after they have forgotten the messages that
we preached to them.
When Paul called the elders of the church in Ephesus
to bid farewell to them, notice what he told them in Acts
20:17-35. He reminded them that he had been with
them for three years (verse 31) and that he had
preached to them night and day. Three years is more
than 1000 days. And so if Paul actually preached twice
every day, as it seems to imply here, he must have
preached over 2000 sermons there.
Ephesus was the place where they had once had a
great revival and where Christians had burnt their old
books of magic and witchcraft costing nearly half a
million rupees. It was also the place where
handkerchiefs that had touched Paul’s body were used
to heal the sick and deliver the demon-possessed.
God did some amazing miracles through Paul in
Ephesus on a scale that hadn’t been seen anywhere
else (See Acts 19:11,12,19).
At the end of all this, what does Paul remind the elders
of? Does he remind them of his sermons or the
miracles? No. He tells them to remember the humble
way he had lived among them, from the first day they
had seen him (v.19). Even if they forgot his sermons,
they could never forget how he lived among them. His
life had made a permanent impact on them. They
could never forget his compassion and his simplicity.
They’d remember that he had worked hard with his
own hands as a tentmaker to support himself and his
coworkers – so that he would not be a burden to them
and also to be an example to other Christian workers
(v.34,35). They would never forget that during all those
three years, Paul never desired money, or gifts, or even
a new set of clothes, from any of them (verse 33)!
Paul also reminded them how he had proclaimed the
WHOLE counsel of God to them uncompromisingly
(Acts 20:27). He hadn’t been a man-pleaser, seeking
popularity for himself. He had preached repentance
and every other unpopular subject, if it was profitable
for his hearers, even if some got offended thereby (Acts
20:20, 21).