Jump Start # 911

Acts 5:38-39 “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

Acts 5, where our passage comes from today, finds Peter and John in prison for preaching Christ. They had been arrested earlier in the chapter. God got them out. They immediately returned to the temple and continued teaching. When found, they were brought before the council and reminded that they were ordered not to preach Christ any more. Peter replied that they were going to obey God and not man. That statement infuriated the council. They set to kill Peter. They had enough. This is where Gamaliel steps up with a statement. He is a respected teacher of the law. He has clout and influence. He reminds the council of other uprisings that soon faded away, especially after the leaders were killed. Gamaliel sees a parallel between those political uprisings and Jesus, who claimed to be a king. Like the other rebels, Jesus was killed. The advice of Gamaliel, is that the group Peter is associated with will soon fade away, since the leader is dead. If it is from men, it will be overthrown. If it is from God, you cannot stop them.

The advice sounded good to the council and they let Peter live.

Gamaliel missed it on several points.

First, he assumed the “Jesus movement” was similar to other uprisings. It wasn’t. Jesus was Heaven sent, prophesied and spiritual based. Gamaliel failed to look into the teachings of Jesus. He lumped it with all other radicals. Mistake one. It is easy for those on the outside to lump all religious activities or even all religions in the same group. College classes in religion will study Eastern religion and Christianity together. They are not the same.

Second, Gamaliel assumed that if a movement is from man then it will not survive. He failed to grasp that error can exist for centuries. The teachings of evolution did not begin with Charles Darwin. He was the one that popularized them. They had been around for hundreds of years before Darwin. The teachings of evolution are widely accepted and very popular today. Does that mean evolution is true. No. Error doesn’t fade away with the death of the leader. Error doesn’t disappear after time. The advice of Gamaliel would be devastating to a church today. He failed to see that God allows error to exist.

Third, Gamaliel advised the council to just leave Peter alone. Peter was a problem to the Jewish leadership. He taught a resurrected Christ. He taught that Jesus was the Messiah. That upset the Jewish mind. That was blasphemous in their eyes. Problems do not go away. Problems do not fix themselves. It is messy and hard to deal with problems. The Gamaliel approach is a popular one today. Many follow this advice without realizing it. They don’t want to deal with problems at home, in the marriage, at work or in the church. Just let it alone, or ignore it, and maybe it will be better. It never is.

Now there is a greater lesson in all of this. Gamaliel was a highly respected and profound teacher. His words were listened to, yet in this situation, his advice was wrong. He was wrong. People we respect can give us advice that is worthless. Advice can come from books, friends and family. Instead of looking into what Peter said, instead of let’s hear his proof and evidence about Jesus, instead of doing some homework, Gamaliel just wanted the council to leave Peter alone. It will either go away or remain and that will be the answer we need. Dumb advice.

People are quick to tell you, here is something that you really need or you just have to do this. Our friends can be very persuasive. Our families can be even more persuasive. If not careful, we find ourselves doing things that we would never do, only because someone advised us to do that.

What then are we to do? Do your homework. Look into what is advised. Study it out yourself.  Had the council chosen to look into what Peter was preaching, they would have seen that Jesus was the Messiah. They would have become believers. As it is, they listened to someone else. People do the same about buying things, raising children and even attending a specific church. A bad experience, a narrow perspective, a negative attitude, a closed mind can taint the advice that one gives. Things can be distorted and taken out of perspective. Someone making a decision strictly on the advice of someone else, can and often receives bad information.

All of us have Gamaliels’ in our life. They mean well. They are quick with opinions and advice. They seem to know but often they don’t. Examine things in light of God’s word. Be careful with advice from others. Be careful in giving advice. How many times will someone say, “Oh, I’ve heard…” and what they heard wasn’t the true picture. Check it out. Find out. Be sure. Know. Ask your own questions. Look for evidence.

Jesus said, ‘you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

Roger