Spreading the Gospel in Overwhelming Circumstances

One of Satan's biggest goals is to keep us from advancing the kingdom of God. One tactic he takes is to convince us that we can't pursue kingdom work because the needs around us are so overwhelming.

For individuals, this might mean our family or personal struggles. For churches, internal conflicts and challenges might seem like obstacles. Others see the needs in their neighborhood as so severe that they simply can't look to the ends of the earth.

And yet Scripturally, the Great Commission was unveiled and the Spirit's power released in some pretty tough circumstances. Fulfillment of Acts 1:8, however, was not restricted until Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria had it all together.

Case in point: Antioch. This early church is depicted in Acts 13 as one with a passion for God - and a willingness to release two of their strongest ministers to the ends of the earth. Yet Antioch, like most ancient cities, was literally a mess! Rodney Stark, in The Rise of Christianity, does an excellent job describing Antioch based on both excavations of the area and general research about ancient cities in the region:

"Any accurate portrait of Antioch in New Testament times must depict a city
filled with misery, danger, fear, despair, and hatred. A city where the average
family lived a squalid life in filthy and cramped quarters, where at least
half of the children died at birth or during infancy, and where most of the
children who lived lost at least one parent before reaching maturity. A city
filled with hatred and fear rooted in intense ethnic antagonisms and exacerbated
by a constant stream of strngers. A city so lacking in stable networks of
attachments that petty incidents could prompt mob violence. A city where crime
flourished and the streets were dangerous at night. And, perhaps above all, a
city repeatedly smashed by cataclysmic catastrophes: where a resident could
expect literally to be homeless from time to time, providing that he or she was
among the survivors." (p. 160-161; read chapter 7 for more information)

And yet, they sent the first missionary band. They saw beyond their own needs. The Gospel spread despite the tragedy that was first century life.

And yet in a way, it spread because of that very tragedy. If you have been sent TO an Antioch, take heart; Stark also notes that in Antioch and other cities, "Christianity served as a revitalization movement that arose in response to the misery, chaos, fear, and brutality of life in the urban Greco-Roman world" (p. 161). Christianity offered hope and eternal salvation, but also very practical ways of meeting the multitude of needs; Christians were less likely to abandon people during times of crises and so served as nurses, took in orphans and widows, and generally provided the social services that were desperately needed.

Whether you serve an Antioch or are trying to reach the world despite your circumstances, take heart! The church was born in overwhelming circumstances. The Roman Empire in which it was birthed is long-dead, but the church of Jesus Christ will stand against all obstacles.

Even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it!