A PERSON OF INFLUENCE
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, there is nothing good that you withhold from me; help me to use all that I am and have to serve you.
Read ACTS 16:6–15
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Footnotes
- Acts 16:12 The text and meaning of the Greek for the leading city of that district are uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘So I say to you: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.’1
When Paul and Barnabas part ways, Paul takes Silas and Timothy with him on his second missionary journey. After a dramatic summons to Macedonia, they follow the Spirit’s guidance and arrive in Philippi. Apparently, there is not a sufficient Jewish population in the city for a synagogue, so Paul goes outside the gates to the Jewish ‘place of prayer’ by the river (v. 13). Here he meets Lydia, a purple cloth merchant from Thyatira. Lydia is a crucial person of peace2 and becomes a strategic gateway for Paul into Philippi.
We can note the characteristics that make Lydia an ideal person of influence. She is a God-fearer with cultural and religious common ground with Paul, providing natural rapport and points of connection (vv. 13, 14). She is a householder, so Paul, by reaching Lydia, reaches into the power- center of an entire household network (v. 15). She is spiritually interested and ‘opened her heart’ (v. 14) in response to the Lord’s initiative. Lydia’s friendships, social status, and business contacts provide a social base for outreach. Her reputation and influence in the community provide Paul and his message with social credibility (v. 14). She provides hospitality during Paul’s stay, her house a physical base for mission and a home for the new church in Philippi (vv. 15, 40). Finally, Lydia’s relative wealth offers a financial base for outreach in Philippi and the wider region (vv. 14, 40).
Luke consistently highlights people of relatively high status and means who play a strategic role in the birth and growth of the Pauline churches. This does not mean that Paul overlooks the poor and needy, but it is Luke’s rhetorical way of advocating this specific missional strategy.
Apply
How might God be inviting you to be more strategic in your missional efforts? What influential gatekeepers (like Lydia) do you know?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, give me new vision as I reach out to others in your name. Give me wisdom to share about you in ways that build your church.
1 Luke11:9 2 cf. Luke 10:5–7
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