President Ronald Reagan used to say, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets credit for it.” I liked his humility. It engendered confidence. How should we respond when someone wants to put us on a pedestal?
When God healed the lame man, the local crowd recognized divine power. Even though they were pagans, they saw that only supernatural power could give a lame man the ability to walk. Automatically, they assumed gods had come down to earth in the form of Barnabas and Paul. They thought Paul was Hermes, the messenger of speech because he was the “chief spokesman.” In other words, he talked a lot. Even the local priest of Zeus brought sacrifices to them. How should they respond?
Barnabas and Paul tore their clothes in grief at the crowd’s assumption that they were gods. “We too are only human, like you.” Instead of taking credit, these men of God glorified God and proclaimed the good news. The man’s healing became the occasion for proclamation of the gospel. Instead of worshiping worthless idols, we turn to the living God, who created all things. This is a good time to remember that God alone is the source of everything good in our world. As Isaiah wrote in 26:12, “All that we have accomplished you have done for us.”
