Exposing the Python Spirit
how non-compliance with exploitation is the original Gospel strategy
I’ve been in a season of mind-blowing revelation from the scriptures. There is one particular passage that has been moving me lately and I can’t wait to share. Literally, I can’t wait. I know it’s Christmas season so I should probably do something more adventy… but I can. not. wait. So, here it is. :-)
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
It may be familiar. If it isn’t - it should be, because it tells an origin story of the gospel advance that is powerfully counter cultural. I figure with all the disillusionment about church and it’s current leadership often co-opted by dominant versions of power and corruption it’s time to dust off the original stories, get reacquainted with the OGs of the ancient church and get re-inspired by the beauty and shock of the real thing. Turns out it’s even better than we thought!
So, let’s get to Acts 16 already. That’s the first strategic advance of the church into Europe. It features women. Not just one. The first unexpected advance of the church in Europe is through the prominent woman Lydia, head of her own household (unusual but evidence of her stature and wealth), who was already seeking YHWH in prayer. She hears of Jesus, is baptized and becomes a strategic outpost/headquarters for the advance of the church in that region. Church historians say she was the leader of her own house-church which became the stronghold for a network of spreading house-churches. That’s enough of a cultural shifting, kingdom establishing reality - a woman is the chosen way of spreading the gospel - even though this is a super familiar formula because it’s also the way of Jesus when he gave women the apostolic instructions to tell others about his resurrection. It’s still a radically upside down way for the apostles cultural norms AND the norms of the culture they were in. This does seem one of Spirit’s specialities - turning the culture right side up! Maybe one day church planting experts will tune in?! But I digress… back to the text.
Lydia is awesome - but it’s the second woman I want to talk about. It’s a girl actually. So, if Lydia is the top of the culture in status and wealth, this girl is the bottom. She is enslaved. The translations seem to all call her ‘slave girl’ although the truth is that she is an enslaved girl. This girl, according to the Greek text, has been possessed by a Python Spirit. And is being exploited by men who ‘own her’ (the text calls them ‘masters’ as in slave-masters) because of her ability to tell the future.
Photo from IJM - check out their incredible work to combat modern slavery and human trafficking.
When Paul and Silas are headed to the city to share the message of Jesus she follows them, yelling out the truth about why they’ve come. I have consistently heard this passage of scripture preached in such a way that suggests Paul became annoyed at the girl for yelling. But it’s always sounded weird to me because of what she was yelling. “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (Acts 16:17) Why would Paul be mad that a girl is telling the truth about his purpose? I mean, she is nailing it. It sounds like a gift to be announced by a fortune teller as the people coming to save you! The Message version literally says “She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her…” I love Eugene Peterson and The Message, but this is outrageously disappointing. Especially since the original text in Greek says no such thing. Other translations say he was irritated or distressed. The actual word used to describe what Paul is feeling is the verb diaponeomai. “This conveys a sense of deep emotional disturbance or distress. It is used to describe a state of being troubled or grieved, often in response to a situation that is perceived as wrong or unjust. This term reflects an intense emotional reaction, indicating a strong internal struggle or agitation.”
So, if Paul isn’t irritated with the girl, what is deeply grieving him? Why is he so upset? The Hebrew corresponding word is often translated, ‘to be in pain’. What is causing Paul this kind of distress?
Let’s go back a second. Because there is another great big hint in the text about what is happening here that is often overlooked. In a shocking omission from every English translation I can find is the description of her crying out. The Greek verb "krazó" is used to describe a loud cry or shout, often conveying strong emotion or urgency. It is frequently used in the New Testament to depict individuals or crowds expressing desperation, need, or proclamation. If you look up the other occasions when this same verb is used, you’ll find the majority of them are people crying out for healing or deliverance from Jesus. You may even remember when Yahweh introduced himself to Moses as ‘the God who hears the cry.’ Yep. That’s who is moving within Paul.
This seems pretty obvious in what Paul does next. Paul tells the Python Spirit to ‘exerchomai: To go out, to come out, to depart’. He liberates the girl from the spirit that is choking the life out of her. “In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of "going out" or "coming forth" was significant in both physical and spiritual contexts. In Jewish culture, the idea of coming out or departing often had spiritual connotations, such as the Exodus from Egypt, which symbolized liberation and divine intervention.” 1
Photo by Jan Kopřiva
In other words, the demonstration of the power of the gospel is the best proclamation there is! And the way God’s power is best demonstrated is when the oppressed are set free. This is what Paul does. Actually, it’s what Paul can’t help but do. I believe Paul is moved by the Spirit. The God who hears the cry can’t stand oppression. The true gospel is the power of God to save - to set the captives free. How can Paul keep passing by a girl enslaved and exploited while on his way to preach the gospel?! He can’t. It doesn’t make any sense. Her freedom is the gospel. The Spirit in Paul, the same Spirit in Jesus and the one in you and me, if we are followers of Jesus, is a Spirit that sets people free.
The cost is huge. I mean the disproportionate response to setting one girl free from oppression is shocking. It only makes sense as a demonic reaction to the exposure of the systemic oppression working behind the presenting situation (economic - her labour is their wealth, patriarchal - her enslavement is their power, empire - oppression is the tool and fuel of the regime, culture - this status quo is accepted and perpetuated). Paul and Silas are beaten and thrown in the deepest dungeon in the prison. I wondered with my friend Bob Ekblad, (a theologian who is thankfully willing to talk these things through with me), if Paul and Silas might have regretted it. Maybe they thought messing with the freedom of an exploited girl was a distraction from the advance of the gospel? But Bob reminded me to keep reading. Paul and Silas, after they were beaten with rods and imprisoned in the deepest part of the prison, were SINGING and PRAISING THE LORD. Yep. That’s right. They were rejoicing.
What were they so happy about?
If you don’t read the story in its fullness - their rejoicing makes no sense. I’ve heard it explained that Paul and Silas were rejoicing in their persecution. What if being beaten and wrongfully imprisoned isn’t what made them sing? What if they weren’t rejoicing at their persecution but were celebrating the girls’ freedom?! I think they were delighting that the power of God had been demonstrated and proclaimed through the liberation of a girl, made in the image of God, and set free from exploitation and slavery. They were celebrating that the gospel was advancing, because that’s how the gospel spreads, through the liberating power of God. The God who hears the cry and is moved to respond - setting captives free.
God forgive us, if on the way to ‘proclaim the gospel’ we aren’t distressed by the cry of the oppressed. God help us proclaim a gospel that compels us to respond with its demonstration. Even if it costs us. Even if the reaction to the power confrontation is our own persecution. For the power Jesus promised in Acts 1:8 would make us ‘witnesses’ which is the same word as ‘martyr’. This is how love is known, when we lay down our lives for the other.
There is so much more to say - especially with what comes next in the story… but maybe this is enough for now. Maybe this is the part we need to be praying through and thinking about. Maybe this is enough to disrupt our normal narratives that continue to proclaim a gospel with no power?
I’m convinced of this: we need more Acts 16 in our witness. What the world needs, more than ever, are people filled with Holy Spirit, who refuse to comply with exploitative systems of oppression. We need apostolic leaders who are deeply grieved and literally pained when they witness the Python Spirit scheming with oppressive systems, squeezing the life out of girls everywhere. We need a demonstration of the power of God to liberate people from systems that suffocate, exploit and abuse them.
This is the power of God that Paul and Silas were singing about, spreading like wildfire, as it exposes the powers and principalities and sets the oppressed free. This is the same gospel strategy of Jesus, proclaimed and demonstrated by the first apostles and seeking faithful witnesses for today. God grant us holy, liberating power to lay down our lives as a demonstration of what we proclaim.
P.S.
By the way, I co-founded Brave Global which is attempting to do something in keeping with the Acts 16 demonstration. It’s mobilizing faith communities to be apostolic messengers to bring freedom to girls who are at risk of exploitation in their communities. It is a sure way to demonstrate what we proclaim: a message of freedom. If you’d like to join us you are most welcome and much needed. I’ve got a hunch, it’s as originally apostolic as it gets.
https://biblehub.com/greek/1831.htm