Episode 3: The First Gentile Converts

A Common Misconception About The Church’s Mission Is That It’s Only Accomplished By A Few Important Figures.

The church began as a subset of Judaism, but it wasn’t long before Gentiles began to be incorporated. The first Gentile convert was the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26–38).

Shortly thereafter, Peter went to Cornelius’ house, where he and his household believed in Christ and received the Holy Spirit. And around this time an interesting thing happened: believers in Joppa called upon Peter to heal a woman named Tabitha, who is already described as a “disciple”, meaning of Jesus (Acts 9:36–43).

This is important, first, because it meant there were Gentile believers already in Joppa who had not been directly converted by the apostles (Tabitha was a Gentile name, and Joppa was a predominantly Gentile city). It meant the Gentile mission was taking on a life of its own. Second, it meant a very cool payoff in God’s story. Joppa is the setting of a story only twice in the Bible. Here and in the story of Jonah (Jonah 1:3).