“But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”
Acts 22:21 (NLT)
Paul is standing before people who had just been beating him, yet he is still trying to help them. He could have slipped into the Roman fortress and escaped the pain, but instead he stays long enough to tell them what Jesus did in his life. He recounts the Damascus Road, then tells them Jesus sent him away from Jerusalem and toward the Gentiles.
That is the moment the crowd erupts again. The Jews were called to be holy and set apart, but they had turned separation into exclusion. God’s holiness was meant to make Israel distinct enough to reveal Him, not isolated enough to keep the nations from encountering Him. From the beginning, God’s blessing was meant to flow through Abraham’s family to all the families of the earth.
I think this still confronts the church today. We create walls and barriers within the Kingdom of God around our beliefs, our way of worship, our favorite leaders, our music, our spiritual disciplines, or our way of living. We elevate those things above the love of God poured out on us. In Matthew 13:34-35, Jesus said this love from God shared with others would prove we are His disciples. When we withhold this love behind our artificial walls, we act like these Jews in Acts 22. We become angry when God sends us toward people who think, live, look, pray, or believe differently than us.
But Jesus is still saying, “Go.” Sometimes the people who feel far away are actually across the street, in our home, at work, or in our own community. So today, maybe the question is simple: are there any walls, barriers, or boundary lines the Lord wants to tear down in your life? We are called to be holy and set apart, not exclusive and shut off. We are called to be light, like a city on a hilltop, drawing others to the same God who came near to us.