God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

In our last post from the book of Acts we looked at how Paul chose who he would surround himself with. If you’re interested you can learn more here: “The 5 Essential Attributes of Your Closest Friends–Acts 20:3-4”.

In today’s post we’ll look at the reasons why Paul devoted his life to traveling all over the known world, and what Paul’s reasons have to do with you and with me.

Acts 20:5-6

These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Acts 20:5-6

What Paul Did to Share Jesus

Paul went on three epic journeys to share Jesus with the world. In Acts 13-14 we saw Paul travel to Pamphylia, Galatia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and then back to Antioch, and then to Jerusalem for the Jerusalem Council.

In Acts 15-18 we saw Paul travel through Cilicia, through Galatia, to Philippi, to Thessalonica, to Berea, through Achaia, to Corinth, and to Ephesus.

In Acts 18-21 we see Paul travel to and through Galatia, Phrygia, Ephesus, Macedonia, Achaia in Greece, back through Macedonia, and finally to Jerusalem.

Paul traveled by foot, he walked, on Roman roads: for thousands of miles. And he sailed the Mediterranean too. There were no cabins for travelers in those days. Paul and his friends stayed on the deck, exposed to the elements.

Paul experienced all kinds of adventures. He was used by God to heal people. He saw many come to Christ. But he endured many hardships as well. He was falsely accused of crimes, beaten, and stoned. He served Jesus “. . . in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:27)

Why Paul Shared Jesus

So why did Paul go to the trouble? There are a couple of obvious reasons. First and foremost it was his love for Jesus that compelled him to do these things. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Another obvious reason is that God’s Holy Spirit led him. Paul was open to, inspired by, and followed the Holy Spirit during his journeys.

And regarding these two reasons, Paul is a great example for us. You and I and all of us should be so filled with love for Jesus that we’re compelled to do things for Him. And all of us should be open to, inspired by, and following the Holy Spirit.

But there’s a third less obvious reason Paul did what he did to share Jesus with people, and that reason is what I want to explore today.

Giving Up YouTube for Lent

At the time of this writing we’re toward the end of Lent. And this year, for Lent, I gave up YouTube and Reddit. If you’re a regular reader of the God Running blog you know I love technology and I love living in the age of the internet where we can find and enjoy fascinating content.

But the algorithms that feed me content on my phone and computer have become so effective, I find myself more and more engrossed in the latest video or podcast or article that the algorithms put in front of me.

Sometimes I’ll check my phone to see what time it is, and then 20-30 minutes later, I find myself still looking at notifications, articles, and other content.

Other times I think to myself, “I’ll just check out this one YouTube video (or Reddit post) and then I’ll go to bed.” Two, three, or four hours later, I look up and it’s two in the morning!

So for Lent, I gave up YouTube and Reddit.

And something unexpected happened.

I became way more interested in human beings.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, when I became way more interested in human beings, I became way better at loving human beings the way Jesus wants me to.

The Third Reason Paul Traveled the World to Share Jesus

So that’s the third reason Paul traveled the world to share Jesus.

Paul was interested in people.

Paul was so interested in people he wrote that he was interested in all different kinds of people: Jews, people under the law, people outside the law, and weak people, even becoming like each of these different kinds of people, becoming all things to all people that he might draw them to Jesus. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Also consider carefully what John said in his first epistle:

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 4:19-21

So we should be interested in people, so we can love them effectively.

But the algorithms. The algorithms have become so amazing, at this point my internet content is a little bit like the Turkish Delight from The Narnia Chronicles.

As I consume captivating content, the content captivates and consumes me.

It’s all so absorbing and entrancing.

When I fill myself up with such content, I find myself bored with people.

And when I find myself bored with people, how am I to love them?

In a certain sense Paul had a big advantage over you and me. In the first century, Paul didn’t have these beguiling distractions to deal with.

I honestly believe a little boredom is good for us.

For me and for you and maybe for most of us, cutting out screens and entertainment can have the effect of producing more interest in God and in human beings.

And having more interest in God and in human beings results in loving God and human beings more effectively.

And loving God and loving people are the two most important things we do. (See Matthew 22:35-40)

And finally there’s the new commandment Jesus left us with:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus Christ, John 13:34-35

Some of you, maybe many of you, are way ahead of me on this. But if you’re like me and you find yourself bored with people, try cutting out screens for 30 days and see what happens.

“Father, have mercy on me and on the person reading this right now. Lead us in Your ways and in the ways we should go. Lead us in the ways of Jesus.

“Lead us away from the temptation of screens. Break us out of the consumption of content cycle and lead us to an interest in people and face to face engagement with people and loving people.

“It’s in Jesus’ name we ask this of You.

“Amen.”

Available on Amazon! Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus) Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)