in Samaria , and to the ends of the earth .” The message is clear : Share the gospel first where you are , then be willing to take it to places beyond your immediate context .
Though Luke wrote the book of Acts with great precision , he doesn ’ t tell us why the believers stayed in Jerusalem , even though they had clearly been commanded to share the gospel beyond the boundaries of the city where the first church was started . It ’ s hard to fathom that it was because they were too comfortable . Many had left their families to follow Jesus . And it seems unlikely these early believers grew complacent that quickly .
Perhaps they were simply adjusting to the new reality of the church as the living body of Christ . Perhaps they were still trying to figure out how to move forward without the incarnate presence of Jesus with them . But they apparently stayed in Jerusalem even though God was ready for them to move outward .
It took persecution to get them moving , as we see in Acts 8:1 : “ A great wave of persecution began that day , sweeping over the church in Jerusalem ; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria .”
Well , persecution is one way to motivate people to action .
It ’ s also interesting to note that all the believers except the apostles began to scatter . So much for hanging the mantle of responsibility on leadership . Did God assign an elite group of early church members to share the gospel ? Did he ask for a show of hands from everyone who
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