The dilution of influence and the shift of power
Acts 10–11 is a turning point in the book of Acts. The narrative moves in focus from Peter to Paul. From the mission to the Jews and Samaritans to the mission to the Gentiles. From Jerusalem to Antioch and then to finally to Rome. Though Paul’s strategy was to go first to the temple (Jews) and then only after that to the marketplace (Gentiles), the Gospel fruit he saw was in the latter.
So with the reduction of Christians from where the Gospel started (Acts 8:1–3), the dependence of the Jerusalem Christians on Gentile Christians during the famine, and the rapid growth of the Gentile churches, there was a not–so–subtle shift in influence in early Christianity. Those who began the movement, those who had poured their lives and energy into sharing the Gospel and then caring for the growing number of believers, now found themselves scattered and on the fringes of what God was doing in the rest of the world. Not only that, but they found themselves grappling with their Jewish heritage, surrounded by people who considered it increasingly irrelevant, all the while enjoying the Gospel that arose out of their Jewish heritage.
While there is no extended narrative in the New Testament on how change effected the early church, we catch glimpses of the struggles. Real people who poured their lives out for the Gospel. Who knew the truth, but struggled over implementing it. Who had a history they loved, which seemed marginalised by the changes being brought in.
These are not struggles unique to the church, Christian communities. They’re common to any community of people that grows and changes, and it’s common across generations.
But what is unique to Christians is the ability to ask and answer the question, what difference does the Gospel make to this?
