Acts 8 | Evangelism, Salvation and ‘the Other’
I grew up an outsider. Too cerebral for my own good, more than a little socially awkward. The kid who didn’t have the right clothes, or cool birthday parties, missed out on ‘play dates’ and team sports and all those things that create kid-social-capital. We were essentially a single parent household while my Dad worked months at a time away in shearing sheds. As recent arrivals from NZ we didn’t have any family local either. If “Enneagram 3” were a comic book villain, I think my bio would make a pretty convincing origin story.
I guess I figured being the popular kid’s enemy was better than being forgotten. Being the voice of dissent, or class clown, was better than not being heard at all. I learnt to be an agitator. To be seen and heard against the odds (and in spite of my introvert tendencies). Over time I realised that being an agent of change was much more rewarding than fleeting popularity anyway. I don’t mind being the agitator, or the outsider so much these days.
“ Over time I realised that being an agent of change was much more rewarding than fleeting popularity anyway.”
I think it’s this quiet mischief maker in me that enjoys the more challenging parts of scripture. My favourite parts of scripture are the parts that bother us the most. Ask what my favourite book of the bible is, most days I say Job, Ecclesiastes or Revelation. I mean, Isaiah and Luke are the real MVP in my mind, but which ones do I enjoy discussing,? It’s the ones that give us a bit of a shake-up.
Did you know that the story of Phillip’s encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 so troubled the established church (5th century or so it is thought), that they added a disclaimer (Acts 8:37), into the text to take the edge off? That whole passage. None of the oldest manuscripts have that passage.
So let’s talk about this text.
First, we find this guy Phillip. He is initially noted “caring for the poor”. That’s probably a whole post itself, but I will say this. I have always noticed a direct correlation with people in proximity to other people’s pain, and being led by God into out of the box but often revolutionary works. Phillip hears from God. “An angel (messenger) of the Lord” the text says. Leads him out onto a road. But not any road. A ‘wilderness road’. A road that is unpopulated, lonely and looks like a wasteland. (I’m not just being poetic here; these are key elements in this word translated wilderness). It is the same wilderness, the Negev, which Jesus is led into to be tempted, and if you have ever been to Palestine you will know, it is a challenging and confronting environment.
“ Imagine if we could just draw close enough to those we don’t understand to see the imprint of God on their life”
There Phillip encounters the Ethiopian. A eunuch. A royal appointee, with extravagant wealth in his care. Philip might have been a somebody, but out here, he is not. He’s a lone wanderer on a road to somewhere unknown. He encounters someone who’s social, ethnic, economic and sexual identity is ‘other’. Again Phillip hears from God, this time the Holy Spirit according to scripture. Beckoning him to draw near to this ‘other’, and to stay. So much of this story intrigues me. Especially the fact that Phillip upon drawing close, hears scripture being read, and sensed a seeking in the heart of this person. Imagine if we could just draw close enough to those we don’t understand to see the imprint of God on their life and hear their seeking. I wonder how much better we would be at sharing our faith if we could?
I do find it strange that we kind of make Phillip the hero of this story, though.
Remembering Phillip encounters the Ethiopian Eunuch returning from a trip to worship in Jerusalem. Perhaps having travelled upon hearing about this Jesus who had fulfilled the scriptures, but at very least having heard of the controversies and events while in Jerusalem, we imagine Phillip introduces Jesus but he simply brings confirmation, and baptism into the community of believers. The Eunuch asks if Jesus is the one who Phillip believes is the fulfilment, and challenges Phillip. “If Jesus is who you say he is, then what is to stop me being baptised”. They both knew that there would have been many things preventing this under the religious structure of the day. Alignment with a foreign government and merely being a Eunuch would have both been restrictive. But both also recognise at that point that everything Jesus has taught means this can no longer be the case.
Phillip goes on to be a notable figure in the port city of Caesarea, not exactly held in high regard for its religious devotion. As a trade centre, it would have been diverse and dynamic, it was also the entertainment centre and playground of some of the most powerful rulers of the day. I wonder how much Phillip’s reputation for leading so many to faith in that environment was contingent on what he learnt from the Eunuch that day?
Arguably this person that Philip encountered had seen something of Jesus and the gospel that Phillip may never have on his own. And yet Phillip was also able to invite the Eunuch into something new, baptism into the community of believers.
These days I see a much bigger picture mission than I once did. Every person matters to God, and every individual’s relationship with God is deeply personal, and yet equally, salvation is something bigger. Healing of the whole world. Justice and Equity. Peace that surpasses all understanding. Unity in diversity. Bringing together what I know of the divine through my perspective, in conversation with what you know through yours, to ultimately seek Gods face and know Gods ways.
I have so much to learn. That was the first thing I had to learn. In this desperately unbalanced and unjust society, and as a person of western European decent, I know I also have so much to unlearn. I am no less motivated by the missional call of God and yet so aware of a (far too recent) history of the intertwined elements evangelism and colonialism, charity, mission and white-saviourism. If we are to grow we need to learn and unlearn.
In recent weeks and months we have heard members of our own communities and churches, First Nations People and other BIPOC people asking us, “If Jesus is who he says he is, and you believe all he said, then what is to keep me from baptism?” (Remember here, baptism included full rights as a member of the temple religious structure and society in general). Around the world women are asking “What is to keep me from being baptised? What is to keep me from being included on your board, team, or in your pulpit?”
Differently abled people are asking “What is to keep me being baptised? Or gaining a role on your staff, or representation in your media, or having access to your building?”
There are sadly some in our world who are still literally asking “What is to keep me from being baptised?”.
I think my favourite part is that it is not Phillip who initiates their entering the waters, but the Eunuch who says ‘come, here is some water’. I am certain there are people we ought to listen to as they invite us to step in, go deeper to include and restore. Perhaps, like Phillip, we would meet God there too.
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
Tara is campus pastor at Hillsong, Joondalup. She has a background in community Development & completed a Social Science Degree before going on to post graduate studies with plans to pursue a doctorate in Theology. Passionate about social justice, equity and compassion, Tara enjoys community, anything competitive, a good philosophical discussion and the occasional twitter debate.