DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

"Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, 'Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place, and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.' (For they had previously seen Triphimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple." (Acts 21:27-29)

This is a classic example of jumping to conclusions, making accusations based on wrong information.

Paul had agreed to sponsor some believing Jews who had made a vow and needed someone to sponsor them by paying their expenses. Paul agreed to do this and when the days of purification had expired and time had come to announce the fulfillment of the vows, he also went through the purification process and paid for the offerings.

Some Jews from Asia began an uproar by charging Paul with desecration of the temple. But the fact was that Paul was just following the customs of the Jews. He had not brought a non-Jew into the temple as they assumed just because they had seen Paul with an Ephesian Gentile in the city.

I read a poem once entitled Sister A and Sister B. Sister A saw her pastor having lunch with a beautiful woman who was not his wife. Sister A assumed her pastor was having an affair, and she told Sister B what she had seen. The story spread like wildfire, until someone investigated and found out the beautiful woman was the pastor's sister.

It is a dangerous thing to make accusations without knowing all the facts. But we often make judgments that are based on faulty information. May we be discerning and careful before we make accusations.

Love, Dad