I really dislike the term "mixed marriage". It really grates against the grain of my nerves. A more preferred expression is "inter-racial". Even that could be a bit off-putting though. Whichever is used, it smacks of belittlement to the individuals and to the couple referred to with that labelling. Are they not two human beings who fell in love and hopefully wanted to spend the rest of their lives together? No doubt their ethnic genes may factor in but when it all boils down, they are each still a human being.
When we are introduced to the young man Timothy in Acts16:1-5, we are told that his mother was Jewish and his father a Greek.
EEK!
Stigma.
Anyway, Paul wants to mentor Timothy and have him tag along with him on his travels. Due to Timothy's gene pool and the anathema of it in the minds of the Jewish community they'd be ministering among at the time, Paul went and circumcised Timothy.
What a hullabaloo in my mind!
We'd just read of Paul's part in the dispute on that very topic in Acts 15! What in the world is going on!? The Jerusalem Council already said that the Gentile converts didn't need to be circumcised to have full salvation and gave the stated reasons, so why is Paul with the hot-off-the-press message he helped deliver to Antioch and nearby churches and to subsequent churches on his tour, why would he suddenly do this for Timothy! Isn't that a huge two-faced contradiction smacking of hypocracy!?
I'd like to quote the SPM Study Guide in answer.
"As the son of a mixed marriage (that ugly term), Timothy's position was unclear. Jews were not supposed to marry Gentiles but if this did happen, the children were regarded as Jewish and therefore liable to be circumcised. No reasons were given why this did not take place where Timothy was concerned. Since Paul's mission would bring Timothy into contact with Jews, it was better in Paul's mind to circumcise Timothy to avoid problems with the Jews since he would be regarded as a Jew in the eyes of the Jewish world."*1
That puts things into some perspective. Do you recall what Paul once wrote to the Corinthians? In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, especially verse 19, 20 and 23 (NIV), we read,
"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews, I become like a Jew, to win the Jews. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."
This reminds me of several missionary stories I've read about. Hudson Taylor who went to China (1873-1878), donned local garb and wore a queue of hair down his back; Lottie Moon (1873-1912) who also went to China, assumed the Chinese attire and ways; and Adoniram Judson and his wife Anne (1813-1850) who went to Burma doing similarly and even meeting the locals in local style in a 'zayat'*2 instead of a church.
This was what Paul was doing with Timothy. Timothy was considered Jewish and they'd be among the Jews, so therefore Paul circumcised Timothy, NOT to "complete his conversion" but to remove any hindrance that would block the Jewish minds from receiving the precious message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
In this, Paul was not going against the decision of the Jerusalem Council, I concluded, nor was he saying that because of Timothy's paternal parentage he didn't quite make the grade of full-fledged standard personnage. Timothy was not an inferior specimen of humanity. The message of Jesus could ring out unhindered and without distraction even when Timothy was along for the ride. Praise the Lord for that!
~ERC October 2021~
Based on Acts 16:1- NIV/Good News
*1. SPM A Study Guide to the Acts of the Apostles, Bible Knowledge; Goh Kim Guat; copyright 2005; Issachar Sdn. Bhd.
*2. A 'zayat' is like a community cente.
To further this topic you can read some of my other blog entries which come in four parts. Part 4 of the Who? Me!!? is the one that most relates here but the other three lead up to it. Here are the Links:
Sing, In All Things More Than Conquerors, with Stephen Curtis Chapman.
No comments:
Post a Comment