Signs and wonders are not a cure-all.

They can create new problems. In the remote town of Lystra, Paul preached to a pagan crowd for the first time. God raised a cripple to his feet. Paul was not prepared for what happened next.

Years earlier, Peter worked a similar miracle in Lydda and the whole town turned to Christ (Acts 9:32–35). So you might expect the same results here in Lystra. But instead of confessing Christ as Lord, the crowds confess Paul and Barnabas as gods. So what went wrong?

It’s all about context.

Back in Lydda, Peter was addressing fellow Jews who shared his assumptions and drew the right conclusions. The Lystrans, however, see the miracle through pagan eyes and draw pagan conclusions (Acts 14:11). They take Barnabas for Zeus, the top god in the Greek pantheon. And Paul they mistake for Hermes, the god of words, because he was a good speaker.

Paul and Barnabas hastily resort to damage control. Just when they’re about to be worshipped, they rip their clothes apart. Bad move, folks. This is a thoroughly Jewish gesture. It makes less sense to the Lystrans than the miracle. But what happens next is a textbook example of cross-cultural communication at its best.

Paul gets a grip on himself, escapes his Jewish reflexes and brings the Truth down to earth. No Christian jargon. No chapter and verse. Not even the Ten Commandments. He uses creation and nature as his text, as Jesus often did — with no compromise!

Paul confronts idolatry head on, using cultural forms that the Lystrans well understand.

So now the mass conversion as in Lydda? It should have happened. But Satan called in reinforcements. A persecution party from Iconuim came in and swayed the Lystrans to stone Hermes and Zeus (Paul and Barnabas). You win some. You lose some. But not all was lost. Paul made enough disciples in Lystra to form a church (Acts 14:20-23; 16:1-5).

Lessons learned: Don’t idolise speakers, foreign or local. Don’t idolise yourself. Don’t let others idolise you. Don’t idolise miracles. Interpret them. Above all, understand and address wrong perceptions about Christianity on the part of the pre-believing community.

Present the Message in such a way that is clear, compelling and culturally sensitive in multi-cultural, multi-religious Singapore. We call this contextualisation or cross-cultural communication. In places like Lystra and Singapore, anything less is confusion.

Fast and pray

• Thank God that the Singapore Church has long enjoyed tremendous freedom and favour with our government and society. Rightly or wrongly, however, certain perceptions have formed in the community that need to be addressed, first of all, in prayer. For example: 
  • Christianity is good for heaven but irrelevant to Singapore.
  • Christianity is irrational and out of touch with reality.
  • Christianity is a western religion better suited to the English-educated.
  • Christianity is for the atas. The poor feel out of place in church.
  • The church seems more like a variety show than a holy place.
  • Foreign preachers come here and denigrate other religions.
  • The church is after money and talks too much about money.
  • New converts stop supporting the family in order to support the church.
  • The church drags religion into debates on public morality.
  Some of these are unfair allegations due to no fault of our own. But in certain cases, we are guilty as charged. Either way, damage control must begin in the house of the Lord.

Pray: Father in Heaven, Your name is great among the nations (Malachi 1:11–12). We confess that we have done things that tarnish Your great name in our nation. Have mercy on us. Hear our cry. Forgive us our faults and follies. We repent. Come, put Your house in order. Give us keys to communicate with pre-believers in culturally sensitive ways — without coercion, without compromise, without condescension.

• Someone once quipped: The Gospel came to Greece and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy. The Gospel came to Rome and the Romans turned it into a system. The Gospel came to Europe and the Europeans turned it into a culture. The Gospel came to America and the Americans turned it into a business. And then, the Gospel came to Singapore, and we turned it into a _______________ . 

Sober up: In what ways and to what extent has American culture infiltrated the Singapore Church? Do we flock to fancy venues to be charmed by cool singers or celebrity pastors? Do we run to and fro from one conference to the next chasing after our favourite speakers? This trend must stop! Otherwise, the Singapore Church is doomed. John Calvin said: The human heart is a perpetual factory of idols. Turn to God in identificational repentance. You shall have no other gods before Me … for I the Lord your God am a jealous God (Exodus 20:3-4).