Acts 16:16-40

God created humanity to be users. He intended that we would use things to affect our world and change it. Primitive humans took sticks and stones to make tools that they used to make better tools. We have not yet reached the limit of what we can make and what we can do. We use things to create and we use things to destroy. The purpose to which things are used is not determined by the things, but by the user. All of this is part of God’s plan.

People using people like objects are not part of God’s plan. It is impossible to be in a right relationship with someone, and at the same time use them as if they are a tool. The more unrighteous a person becomes, the more likely they are to be a user of others. Slave owners use their slaves as if they are not human. The owners of the slave girl were wicked. They did not care for her well-being or her happiness. All they cared about was their profit, so they used her.

Once Paul set her free from her spirit possession, they used the people of Philippi to seek revenge. The people’s bigotry against Jews allowed the slave owners to manipulate them just as you would manipulate a tool. They used the crowd’s hatred and anger to manipulate the magistrates.

The manipulated magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten. Once they learned that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they recognized that the angry crowd had used them. They attempted to make it right, but Paul and Silas had already suffered a beating. Paul and Silas had the magistrates at a disadvantage, but they did not use that in an unrighteous way. They visited with the church at Lydia’s house, and then they left.

Being right with God changes all of our relationships. We do not manipulate and use others and we do not allow others to manipulate and use us. Our relationships with others become personal.