In this chapter (Acts 9) we have the famous story of Saul’s conversion. We have read in previous chapters about the persecution of the Church which he himself had led but now we have his first meeting with the Lord, Jesus Christ. The impact of this event radically changed Saul’s life and as we know, with the advantage of history, changed the world in which we live today.
Often people talk about the testimony of their conversion. You hear them at big ‘meetings’, the story of somebody’s life on their journey to meeting Christ for the first time. Usually, if someone has been given a microphone it culminates in a story of a big conversion experience which instantly changed their life.
It is very easy, if you are in Christian circles for long enough, to believe that this is the way it should be. Somehow, the fact that you are a Christian is less valid if you weren’t the most evil person in the world and then suddenly ‘saw the light’. I certainly felt this way when I was younger in the faith.
I want to make it clear now that this is not the case! The radical breathtaking stories that we so often here are not the norm, and certainly not the pre-requisite of becoming a Christian; a follower of Christ. Your story, however boring you may think it is, is valid, important and powerful when told. Often, the less explosive stories are more powerful than their more colourful counterparts because most people can relate to them. Most of us are in the same position. Never, ever, think that your story is not worth telling. And never, ever, give in to the temptation to make it ‘more exciting’. This is from the evil one, and will not do anybody any good.
Yes, Saul’s (Paul’s) story is an explosive one. He went from being the leader of what really amounted to ethnic cleansing against Christians, and after one amazing encounter became the leader of the Christian church, taking the Gospel to limits of the known world. Yes, Paul may have been more grateful for his salvation than many of us are as he new from how far away (in terms of distance from God) he had come. Yes, Paul went on to do some quite incredible things, and maybe there is a link between the power of his conversion and the unenviable task he was required to carry out. (We may well come back to this.) But this is Paul’s story. The power is not in the drama but in its truth.
Your (and my) story has just as much power to be used by the Holy Spirit to change lives because the power is not in our words but in the truth that is behind them.
