“1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

“No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 “Then what baptism were you baptized with?” he asked them.

“With John’s baptism,” they replied.

4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to prophesy. 7 Now there were about 12 men in all.

8 Then he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the message about the Lord.”

Acts 19:1-10

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Here we see two different receptions of truth in Paul’s ministry in one town. Now, Corinth was densely populated and there were a slew of cultural backgrounds milling aroundin the collective psyche of the town. It was a unique place in their time. Based on their central location in the Mediterranian region and the vast number of nations & religious groups that made their way through Corinth, you were bound to receive a variety of responses to the Gospel message. But, as is unfortunately expected, the people who should have been the most receptive were the least receptive. They were too set in their ways, their understandings and decided that they didn’t need to hear anymore & so they fought back against the truth. 

The Gentiles on the other hand? They listened to Paul preach and teach 8 times longer than the Jews there did. After three months, the Jews were done with him. The Gentiles listened to Him, considering the truth for two years and many nations came to hear the Gospel through their willingness. This is the difference between those who are prideful and those who her the truth.

When we are prideful, we automatically assume that we know it all, understand it all and that no one has anything new for us to see, hear, understand or learn.  We close ourselves off. We shut others down. Even if they are coming from our own background, like Paul was to the Jews in Corinth, we instantly imagine that they are wayward before they even open their mouths. This is pride. Pride says, “I am enough.” Pride says, “No one can help me.” Pride says, “My way is right, even if it is untested.” Pride says, “I am unique in this world and nobody knows me but me.” 

Pride says a lot of things that walls off our hearts, minds & spirit to that consinderation of information from another person. “Your house is on fire.” “No it’s not. I have a chimney & fireplace, meant to contain and control fire. My house is fine.” “Okay, but the fire started at the stove.” “Good. The stove is also meant to contain and control heat. My house is fine.” “Well, it was a grease fire, so the floor and walls are burning, too. I don’t think they’ll be much help for containing heat. You might want to do something about it.” “No, I trust my heat containment areas. They will do their job. My house is fine.” 

You get the idea. Pride does this. It refuses to listen. It refuses to move or be moved. 

We don’t want to be tossed around by every wind and wave and cultural opinion. But that’s where truth is so good. It doesn’t get tossed around. It stands firm. And anythign that doesn’t stand with truth is then pretty easily discerned. You can listen to someone, hear what they have to say and weigh it against the truth & God’s truth will always stand. This is, again, where knowing the Scriptures and having an intelligent faith is so important. We can discern what is truth and what is not by them, not from some source of truth that we formulate within ourselves. That pseudo-truth is the ‘truth’ of pride. The truth that God gives comes from outside of us and we have no influence on it or over it. We cannot change it, tweak it or make it our own. It simply is. It stands alone. 

The Gentiles in Corinth were used to weighing out ideas & so they heard the truth & believed. The Jews in Corinth were used to sealing themselves off from everyone, were resistant, and would not listen. 

As we GoLove people in Jesus’ Name, we will encounter people on both sides of the fence. The trick is knowing how much time to give them to listen. Paul knew. He gave the majority of his time to those who would listen and follow what was being said, those who would receive the truth of God.