Acts 22 - Paid the price or born into the family?

Paul is given the chance to speak before this mob of Jews and he makes the most out of it, but what struck me is again what he uses to defend himself and his actions. He starts by connecting with his audience and helping them to remember that he was one of them for a long time, that they are brothers and sisters in the origins of their faith, and not enemies.

I am not enemies with anyone, and I don’t think I talk or act like I am enemies with anyone, but I’m not sure I do a very good job of helping them to know that we are in this together and that we are more similar than we are different. Whether it is speaking in front of a group or in a one-on-one conversation, it is so incredibly important to connect with my audience, not just in appearance or on the surface, but to truly, deeply connect with whoever it is I’m talking with. Paul does a great job doing this with this mob, and I think it probably gained him a few more minutes of talking time before they decided to bind and scourge him.

Paul goes on and just tells his story, and while we don’t read about a bunch of people getting converted that day because of it, I have a hard time believing that no one in the audience connected with his story and thought deeper about their life. I fully believe there were people in that crowd that went home that day and decided to walk away from the religion of their fathers and turn towards a relationship with their Heavenly father. So Paul tells his story.

I once heard it said that simply recounting the events of Jesus dying on the cross is not sharing the gospel message, that is simply giving someone a history lesson. The event of Jesus dying on the cross becomes the message of the gospel when we relate that event to what it means for me and for you, when we talk about the fact that on that cross Jesus bore our punishment for our sin, when He deserved none of it. The event of Jesus dying on the cross becomes the message of the gospel when we share with someone how one man’s death on a tree gave every man the opportunity to live forever. The event of Jesus dying on the cross becomes the message of the gospel when we share why it means something, and maybe the best way to do that is to share our story. Paul understood this, and that’s why he went around and told his story of how God blinded him, how Jesus forgave him, and why he chose to proclaim the truth about Christ to the ends of the earth. I’ve got to be ready to tell my story, anytime, anyplace, but part of me doesn’t like to. It’s not that God hasn’t done incredible things for me, it’s not that I don’t appreciate who God is and what He has done in my life, it’s just that sometimes it feels like I’m bragging, sometimes I feel like I’m drawing attention to myself rather than to God, and I don’t like that at all. I think what that probably reveals is that somewhere in my heart I still give myself too much credit for my story rather than giving it to the one to whom it belongs, God.

Father forgive me when I lack humility and for when I take the credit that you deserve. Father I desire the confidence to share how you have changed my life, but that will only come when I give up every last ounce of pride and ownership for that life-change. It wasn’t me who changed me because I tried that, over and over again, to no avail. Only through you and because of you do I have a desire to spend time in your Word. Only through you and because of you do I desire to serve you and your church. Only through you and because of you am I saved, by grace, through faith. It’s not of me or because of me, and don’t let me forget it!

Ironically, I get to share my story this week at our second Atmosphere service at New Heights Church. Every day I’ll be praying that same prayer as I prepare to share what God has done and not what I have done. I need to speak with boldness because I am so grateful for who God is and what He has done, I shouldn’t shy away from that!

As Paul was telling his story (he hadn’t even finished yet) they started yelling and wanted him dead. This is just another example that no matter what we do, no matter how innocent or how much truth we speak, sometimes people just won’t listen, and we have to be OK with that. It can be so frustrating and so hard when people, especially brothers and sisters in Christ and even more so really close brothers and sisters in Christ, won’t believe you when you are speaking the truth. It’s easy to want to lash back or to speak against them and to go down the paths of sin really quickly, but we must resist. Paul resisted, and we don’t see him losing his cool or piping back at this mob, he just waited for his time to speak truth once again. What a lesson that is for me, and what an incredibly hard standard to live up to in my life.

From the other side of this story, from the mob’s perspective, what do I have to learn from them? The obvious thing that I see from them is that they don’t like the answer Paul gives them, they don’t like his story, and so they throw a fit, say bad things about him, and try to get him killed. Now I have never tried to get someone killed, but have I said bad things about people? Have I gossiped or talked badly about or tried to negatively affect the reputation of someone? How about this one, have I ever tried to kill the spirit of someone I didn’t agree with by not being encouraging towards them and respectful of their opinions? This mob looks like a bunch of idiots and jerks here, but I am much easier on myself when I act in really similar ways, I am much quicker to justify my behavior without using the word idiot or jerk, when both those words are pretty fitting. If only I would seek out and listen to truth, without passing judgment on what I don’t know. The mob passed judgment on what Paul said because they didn’t believe it to be true. Where they erred, though, was not searching out the Scriptures and seeking after God to find out if what he said was right. I need to make sure I don’t make that same mistake.

The interaction between the commander and Paul at the end of this chapter is classic, and verse 28 makes me think of my relationship with Jesus and how that came to be. There are many out there, and I used to be one of them, that would stand proud and say I’m a part of God’s family because I paid a heavy price. I’ve worked really hard to keep the commandments and I give 10% of every dime I earn, sometimes even 11%, and I go to church every week, I’ve paid a high price for my citizenship in Heaven. Someday Jesus, and those that understand that it is only by His grace and by His sacrifice and not by anything that we have done will look at that person and say those words of Paul, “I was born a citizen.” In other words, I haven’t done anything to earn my citizenship in Heaven, I only belong there because I’ve been born into the family of God by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus, and that is REAL citizenship. There will be many turned away at the doors of Heaven who have tried to pay the admission price on their own. I’m so thankful God has revealed to me that it is only through Him and for Him and to Him that I exist, that I eat and breathe and live, and that apart from Him I can do nothing.