Bible Study Reflection: “The Dangerous Power of Belonging”
Just a trial run—wanted to see if there’s interest in this kind of deep-dive reflection. If enough folks find it helpful, I’ll keep them coming. Let me know what speaks to you.
Scripture Reading
Acts 11:21–26; 13:1–3
In those days a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,
and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
And a large number of people was added to the Lord.
Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch.
For a whole year they met with the Church
and taught a large number of people,
and it was in Antioch that the disciples
were first called Christians.Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”
Then, completing their fasting and prayer,
they laid hands on them and sent them off.
Matthew 5:17–19
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Reflection: The Dangerous Power of Belonging
If you want to ruin someone’s life, isolate them. If you want to change someone’s life, give them a name—and a people to belong to.
Antioch was not a spiritual retreat center. It was a collision zone. A bustling, multicultural port city of trade, vice, ideas, and unrest. And it was there, of all places, that people who once followed “The Way” were first called Christians. Not as a compliment. More like branding cattle. Naming is always an act of power.
