Acts 28:1-10 | It's Always New to Someoneনমুনা

Kindness: A New Attitude

This plan is part of an ongoing series following the ministry of Paul in Acts.

Acts 28 picks up after a shipwreck. Paul is being taken to stand trial in Rome, and things get dire at sea. Jumping overboard before being pounded to death on the rocks, he and the others on board that ship reach the beach on the island of Malta where the islanders greet them and show them kindness.

“Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold” (Acts 28:1-2, NIV).

Most modern Bible translations typically use the term “islanders” or “natives” to describe the people who greeted the voyagers. The word translated “islanders” is the Greek word barbaros. Look closely, and you’ll see the root of our word “barbarian.”

This was the word Greek-speakers used to refer to people who did not speak Greek. To the Greeks, people who talked in those other “uncouth” languages all sounded alike: “bar-bar-bar….” (Think “blah-blah-blah…”) If you weren’t a “sophisticated Greek speaker,” you were an uneducated country bumpkin. A hick. Boorish. A rube. A “blah-blah-blah.” Barbarians.

As is so common everywhere, people tend to view their way as superior (and those who don’t share it, as slightly inferior… or at least a bit embarrassing.)

The people on Malta were probably ancestors of the Phoenicians who continued to speak a dialect of Phoenician. Phoenicia is an ancient civilization stretching all the way back to at least Genesis 10. They were once a proud and sophisticated culture, a wealthy and sea-traveling people.

But not to the Roman who had a presence on Malta (and no doubt expected the islanders to have some fluency in Greek or Latin). To them, these people were just “bar-bar-bar….”

These “barbarians” hadn’t been exposed to the gospel message, but they exhibited compassion to strangers without hesitation. Even if they couldn’t verbally communicate with Paul and his Roman captors on the ship in their native language, they were fluent in the language of kindness. They were showing love to their neighbor in the way Jesus outlines in Matthew 22:39.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:39, NIV).

They led with kindness. Kindness to the very Romans who disdained them.

The Bible is filled with commands to show kindness. To each other, to strangers, to enemies.... Paul lists it as a fruit of the Spirit. It exemplified the heart of God.

Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (NIV).

The barbarians did, and in doing so, unwittingly invited the kindness and power of God upon themselves.

Prayer

Is your first response to meeting a stranger kindness? How can you love them as yourself? Ask God to help shape your heart so that you can see others as Jesus sees them. Pray for him to help you lead with kindness.