Readings and Thoughts for Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Acts 9:19-22 Saul Preaches in Damascus
A few thoughts about the changes Saul must undergo in this conversion process. He begins, before his conversion, in a mood of power, control, and total self-assurance. He is a leader. He is on top of the world. Suddenly he is on the ground. He cannot see. He has to be lead by the hand. He is too weak to eat for three days. Ananias, a stranger, an enemy, has to come and help him to see again. Saul has gone from a man of complete independence to complete dependence. After the scales fall from his eyes, Saul is with the disciples in Damascus – the very people he had planned to imprison. He preaches and shares his story, but they are also teaching him, encouraging him, providing shelter for him.
In our time, we think of conversion as something very personal, very private. “It’s between me and God.” But this view is not Biblical. Biblically, you are not just converted to a belief, you are converted to a community. There is no baptism separate from membership in the church; one act implies and assumes the other. William Willimon notes that Saul could become a Christian with God’s help alone, but to remain a Christian he had to be part of a Community.
What do you need to sustain your faith? Who helps you? For whom do you have a role in sustaining their faith?
Acts 9:23-25 Saul Escapes from the Jews
Conversion does not just change Saul’s opinions or beliefs, it changes his entire station in life. The one who was persecuting is now being persecuted himself. We tend to think of Christian faith as a benefit, as something that will help us and ease us. It’s not always so. Sometimes faith makes life much more difficult.
A catholic missionary, Bob McCahill, describes his ministry among Muslims in Bangladesh in his autobiographical Dialogue of Life: A Christian Among Allah’s Poor. His purpose was to live as a Christian in impoverished city slums, providing whatever ease, comfort, or assistance he could provide and sharing his faith only through his actions. He wanted to develop true relationships with people and for them to know Christ through him. He had no intention of converting anyone, but only to be a witness to them. McCahill sought to be an alternative to the many evangelical organizations that would send in staff with a wide array of gifts and assistance, virtually buying conversions with their promises of clothing, food, medicine, and education.
Once a man came to him and asked “What will you give me if I become a Christian?” McCahill answered truthfully: “Suffering.” This is what Paul got for his conversion: his social status was greatly reduced, no one (Jew or Christian) wanted to believe him or trust his word; he became an object of persecution; he had to escape Damascus by going over the city wall in a basket.
What do you expect from life as a Christian disciple?
Acts 9:26-31 Saul in Jerusalem
Saul not only needed a community, he needed a mentor and an advocate. He found both in Barnabas. Later Paul and Barnabas will be in ministry together, and Paul will seem to be the main player, but that is not how the relationship began. Without Barnabas, Paul never could have developed his potential as a minister and evangelist.
Barnabas argued to the Jerusalem community that Paul was legitimate in his beliefs. The apostles, for their part, listened to Barnabas and then listened to Paul. They provide their seal, their blessing upon him and set the stage for his later ministry. It may seem strange that Paul needed to have his legitimacy tested or approved in this way, but the church still follows this pattern. An individual is called by God to ministry, but an individual is also called and confirmed by the church. Both internal and external calls have to exist together for a ministry to be considered authentic. This is why we commission our mission teams, our new staff members, our BeFrienders, and others in ministry roles: as a church we are providing an external and community affirmation to an internal and individual call.
Where/when have you been a leader for Christ’s church? Who mentored you? Who blessed you on your journey? How did they do it? Have you been a Barnabas to someone else?
4 comments:
When I was in my very early 20's, I was befriended by a woman at my church. She asked me to work on projects at the church, and she would ask me questions about myself, my beliefs, and so on. Being very disturbed by my answers she offered to disciple me. I agreed. So we spent several months with her discipling me. Eventually I went on a mission trip and came back a completely changed person and she felt that her family's place in the church was changing, so she ended to discipleship, but I will always treasure that time. Nowadays I feel very alone in my faith, as it is very difficult to find people in the church who have the time to talk about their faith. You asked about my faith in the first set of questions. I feel that through my recent time of trials that my faith has stayed very strong. I know that God will send me to the job that he wants me to be, and I know that God has sent me things that I needed when I needed them. Nobody "helps" me; like I said above, it is very difficult to find anyone willing to talk about their faith, much less help others with theirs. I'm thankful for my Sunday school class, where we can sit and talk about and study the Scriptures, but I would like more. I don't know how to get more. But I guess to answer your question, I would say that my faith is self-sustaining.
In response to anonymous, I see why it feels that your faith is self-sustaining after having experienced such a wonderful mentor at one time. I hope, though, that you can see that just being part of the Sunday School class and church community are hugely valuable, too. It may not be one on one, but think how hard it is to sustain your faith unless you have a chance to talk and grow with others. And you have things to offer, too, that others wouldn't hear if you weren't interacting with them. I think you're being discipled, but in a different way than before.
Yeah, I accept that. And being in a class, I have the opportunity to possibly say something that may have an impact on someone else, although I may never know it. And being someone who likes to "help", that would mean so much to me.
Alright, so on tuesday night me and my dad started having a discussion on evolution...im not really sure why but anyways, I told him that i do not believe in evolution and I believe in what the bible says, God created the Heaves and the Earth.
He told me that I take the bible to literal and that every word is not true.
Now I know i still believe in Gods creation of the earth, but I'm really confused about evolution..
and by him saying that the every word is not true in the bible..
Thanks :]
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