In the Acts of the Apostles, the apostle Paul is the central character from chapter thirteen to the end of the book in chapter twenty-eight. Luke takes the reader on all sorts of journeys with Paul, from Cyprus to Rome itself. Some of the recollections of Paul’s ministry sound familiar to anyone familiar with the narrative. Many recall the Sermon on Mars Hill in Acts 17, the shipwreck on Malta in Acts 27 and 28, or the raising of Eutychus from the dead in Acts 20. Typically, few centre their gaze on a short verse in chapter 18. Here, Paul is wrapping up the second missionary journey and returning to Antioch. He planted churches throughout Macedonia, preached in Athens, and remained in Corinth for two years building up the church there in Achaia. As he begins to leave, Luke noted, “After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow,” (Acts 18:18). This isn’t one of those texts that Bible readers or biblical scholars focus their gaze upon. It’s a short text thrown in before the end of the journey with Paul returning to Antioch. However, there’s solid truth from this short text.

The verse does beg a few questions. One of those is why is Paul shaving his hair? It seems that Paul had undergone a Nazirite Vow for a time during his ministry in Corinth. This was an Old Testament ceremony outlined in Numbers 6:1-21 which was a vow to the Lord promising to abstain from wine, contact with dead bodies, and, notable for the verse at hand, cutting the hair of the head. Samson and John the Baptist were under life-long Nazirite vows, though by and large, those who took Nazirite vows did so for a short time period. It is likely that Paul did so as a picture of thanksgiving to the Lord for his safekeeping during a difficult time in Corinth. In accordance with Jewish custom the hair cut from the head would be burned in the temple in Jerusalem which Paul visited along with Caesarea in verse 23. Why does Paul take such a vow since he himself preached that the ceremonial law had ceased with the coming of the New Covenant? Recall that Paul was an ethnic Jew and dearly loved his people (Romans 9:3). Though the ceremonies were done (Cf. Heb.9) there was nothing wicked or wrong with performing them. What Paul was doing with the vow was a strategic way to reach his own kinsmen with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He outlined his missional methodology in 1 Corinthians 9:20: ‘To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.’ Therefore, Paul took the vow to picture his devotion to Christ, to seek to win his fellow Jews to the Gospel, and to show himself as accommodating to the cultural ways of his own people.

Nazirite vows and missiology may sound interesting to some readers, but how is it applicable to the Christian of the current era? One such application is found in Paul’s aims. Paul wasn’t seeking to needlessly offend Jew or Gentile with the Gospel, but he was accommodating in order to preach Christ to them. If a Christian were to invite a Muslim into his home to dine with him and chat about the true Gospel, it is foolish to cook bacon sandwiches for the evening meal. Is it illegal for the Christian to eat pork? Of course not (Acts 10). Is it wise to needlessly offend someone you are seeking to bring the Gospel to? Absolutely not. The Gospel is offensive to fallen man already (1Cor.1:18). Therefore, Paul used certain cultural points to preach the Gospel effectively. Adoniram Judson in Burma built a traditional Burmese bamboo shelter for meetings, Hudson Taylor dressed in Chinese fashion, and nearly all missionaries seek to learn the language of the people they’re ministering among. Modern Christians too, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, should seek to wisely use what is around them in order to present the Gospel effectively. Never compromise on the Gospel, but seek to implement a Pauline ethos of evangelism (1Cor.9:22).

Ethan McCarter