Acts; Street Cred

Sept. 23

Read: Acts 19:11-20

Acts;

Street Cred

“But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (v.15)

It is interesting to think about what sort of “awareness” the spiritual realm has of the material realm… of what is happening here “on earth”. This passage in Acts is filled with some wild stuff… but the verse above stands out to me. Think about what this evil spirit says for a moment: “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

First of all, it is fascinating to think about a spirit “recognizing’ someone - in this case Paul. This tells us that the evil spirit knows what is happening here on earth and interacting with it in some way, shape, or form. He “recognizes” Paul. I don’t know if that means that the spirit knows what Paul looks like… or his voice… or just his name. But in some way or another, Paul has some “street crew” with this evil spirit. It is telling the way that the evil spirits says he “knows Jesus”. To me, this seems more significant than just “recognizing” him… but to “know him”!? OBVIOUSLY, this is not “knowing Jesus” the way that you and I know Jesus as Christians… but it is a sign that this evil spirit potentially has more familiarity with Jesus than Paul. I mean, Jesus is the “Lord of Spirits” and “King of kings and Lord of lords” … so it makes sense that Jesus has the most spiritual street crew of ALL! All of this to say - there seems to be more “overlap” between these two realms than we may first expect.

In one sense, it would be a GOOD THING to not be recognized by evil spirits. I mean, it could be a byproduct of not putting yourself in the midst of evil spirits… or doing the sorts of things that evil spirits are present for. In this manner, having the evil spirit say, “I don’t know you” would be a sort of compliment! I don’t know about you, but I would like to stay OFF the radar of evil spirits. But what does that say about doing the meaningful spiritual work that Christ has called us to do?

What if we were so active on behalf of Christ in the spiritual realm… making waves and pressing back against the darkness… that the local evil spirits knew our names!?! What if the people of God were thwarting the efforts of the evil one and putting a dent in the plans of the evil spirits in their town enough so that the evil spirits started to take notice? Imagine inserting your name in the verse above:

“Jesus I know, and Josh Pedersen I recognize, but who are you?”

It is worth asking- does the work of God’s people in a city pose any real threat to the work of the Devil and the evil spirits around him? How would evil spirits respond if you or I were to show up? I am not saying that we go looking for a fight, but I am trying to open our hearts and minds to the scriptures and this passage in particular. My guess is that it may seem “silly” for most of us to even talk about… we simply don’t live in that sort of world or function in the midst of these sorts of ideas. For reference, think of the fact that a group of men (the “sons of Sceva”) in the book of Acts intentionally went out into their city to fight back against evil spirits. (v.13,14) Their problem was not that they were seeking to fight the darkness… their problem was they had no authority or power to do it. They were invoking the name of Christ without any relationship or authority to do so. This ended with them getting their butts kicked! In Christ, we DO have the power and authority… just go back and read Matt 28. Here is the truth: APART from Christ, we will get our butts kicked in the spiritual realm. IN CHRIST, we have the power and authority that comes in Jesus’ name. So what would the evil spirits in your town say about you… your church… your ministry? Are you choosing to “safely” stay out of it? Or when you draw near is Christ with you so that the evil spirits shudder? (cf. James 2:19, Mark 5:7, etc.)  Does the “domain of darkness” recognize your name along with Jesus’ because you are thwarting their plans!? (cf. Col. 1:13) As the people of God bring the Kingdom of God with them into the world - they are shining light into the darkness and exposing the evil deeds of the enemy. (cf. Matt. 15:14,15, John 3:19-21, Luke 10:9,11, Eph. 512-14) Whatever you do, DO NOT act like the sons of Sceva, pretending to know Christ and invoke his name when you really don’t… that will not end well.

May the people of God put a dent in the plans of the evil one as Jesus works IN US and THROUGH US. May we recognize that the evil spirits are quite aware of those who walk with Jesus (cf. Paul) and those who pretend… and they respond accordingly. May we - as the people of God - lean into our identity IN CHRIST and know that we roll with HIS authority… with the “street cred” of JESUS. Ephesians 5:11 reads:

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

As we expose the darkness, and bring the message of Christ to the world around us the Devil and his minions will flee. (cf. James 4:7) As the light of Christ shines in us and through us, the darkness will be exposed… put on notice! May the evil spirits recognize the names of those faithful children of God who minister in Jesus’ name! That is some holy street cred!