“Everywhere Paul preached there were riots. Everywhere I preach, they serve tea.” This sounds about right. What have we left out of our gospel so that people do not oppose it? Have we softened the truth to avoid conflict?
When Paul went up to the temple, his Jewish enemies from Asia caught up with him. The prophecies about Paul being arrested came true. These men from Asia fiercely accosted Paul and falsely accused him of being against Judaism. Was Paul against the Jewish people, the law, and the temple? No. Did he take Trophimus, a non-Jew into a restricted area? No. But in a riot, the truth does not always matter. All that matters is the perception of the crowd. Paul’s preaching ran afoul of the false gospel of some in his day.
The rioters dragged Paul out of the temple and started beating him. This caught the attention of the Roman commander. Only when he arrived did they stop beating Paul. For context remember that Jesus was crucified in that city some twenty years before. Likewise, Paul himself had presided over the murder of Stephen. Without the intervention of the Roman soldiers, Paul might have died there in Jerusalem.
Soren Kierkegaard explained why we face so few riots these days: "When one preaches Christianity in such a way that the echo answers, 'Away with that man, he does not deserve to live,' know that this is the Christianity of the New Testament. Capital punishment is the penalty for preaching Christianity as it truly is."
