Learning From Paul 2

"Paul took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyranus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord" Acts 19:9,10

If finding the places where people gather was a key to Paul's methods, the second is the time he gave to a place. Here in Acts 19 in Ephesians he spends 2 years, elsewhere he also spends substantial time preaching and developing churches. However, there are also ocassions when he spends very little time in a town, city or region, even if those times were proving fruitful.

What he doesn't do, however, is spend any length of time in places where there was no fruit and there were those times even for a missionary as good as Paul. Just look at his time in Athens in Acts 17, he spent time, day after day, debating in the synagogue and market place, but it says at the end 'A few men became followers of Paul and believed'. Compared to other places Paul does not seem to have spent a lot of time there before moving on to Corinth.

Jesus says in Mark 6:11 "And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." They are tough words for us, especially if we are trying to share Jesus with people who we care about. The more we care, the more likely it is we will be happy to spend time trying to show the love of Jesus with them even if they are not responsive in any way. The same can happen in our clusters. A cluster can spend a ot of time working with a specific group of people or in a particular area and not see any positive response. There are two things we need to recognise in those situations.

Firstly, Paul learned that sometimes we are called to sow or water seeds rather than reap the fruit. In those situations do what you can to let people see Jesus as best you can and then move on. Others will cme along to water and reap, that's the way God works in these situations. But secondly, remember time is short. Time spent on someone who will not respond means time lost on people who would respond. Paul could have spend long periods of time in places were the response was negligible and missed out on places where the fruit was ripe for picking.

Who are the people you are trying to reach out to. Do you need to stay or to move on?