It was early in the morning, and I was eager to get started on my summer job of scrapping out the apartment building my employer was building. I climbed into the dump truck and headed to the job site, but within a few blocks the engine coughed and shut down. I was young and had little experience with engines, so I did my best to troubleshoot. I tried jiggling the key in the ignition. I tried starting it in neutral and the a few other gears. Nothing worked.

Embarrassed, I called my boss, and we explored the situation together for a good while. Come to find out, my perfectly good dump truck wouldn’t start because it had no gas. That problem had not crossed my mind because I had filled it up the night before. But, during the night someone had syphoned the gas tank dry. That is why trouble shooters often begin their work by asking questions like: “Is there gas in the tank?” or “Is it plugged in?”

There is a prominent tale of a trouble-shooter in early church history that might raise eyebrows if it happened in many Christian circles today. It centers around the Apostle Paul who was considered one of the most prominent leaders of the new group people were calling Christians.  (He later wrote much of what is now called the New Testament.) While doing missionary work Paul found a group of believers and began his conversation by asking some trouble-shooting questions. His questions and subsequent actions reveal that he didn’t think just believing in Jesus was enough; he obviously felt that there was something beyond believing that gave people the upper hand in the war between good and evil. Here is the story:

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. 

“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 

“Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. 

And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 

Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” 

As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all. (Acts 19:1-5 nlt)

Where did Paul get his theology? It was a pattern that can be seen in his life, and the life of all the disciples. He believed, but then God called him to a new life and gave him power to live that life when Ananias laid hands on him. (Acts 9)  The twelve Disciples of Jesus were believers who traveled with Jesus for 3 or 4 years. Then came Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension that redefined their faith.  As instructed by Jesus, after his ascension into heaven 11 of them returned to Jerusalem where God gave them the power to live out their faith. (Acts 2) It was beyond belief. It started with believing, but they needed power to live out their faith. When they opened up to God, He filled them with His Spirit. God is still giving people that kind of power!