saul "tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was really a disciple. but barnabas took him [in] and brought him to the apostles."
saul is miraculously converted and begins to preach the gospel with unusual power, but as it is with so many converts, he finds it hard to live down his old reputation. the other disciples see him only as the old murderous, fire-breathing saul. they refuse to believe that he has really changed.
barnabas was the only one who believed in saul and gave him a chance. because of barnabas's love and kindness, the rest of the church extended their hand of fellowship to saul and welcomed him into their midst. thank God for people like barnabas! barnabas believed in the power of Jesus Christ to change even a murderer and a blasphemer like saul.
it makes all the difference in the world if someone overlooks the mistakes that we have made, the failures and misbehaviors of our past, and gives us a chance. if we have been accepted into the fellowship of a church, it is probably because no one knows us well enough to question us otherwise. what if everyone knew us the way we really were: our secret sins, our thought lives, the things we keep hidden from everyone else--would we be able to live it down? would the church accept us then?
most of us make up our minds about someone according to what we have seen and heard, but if we were all a little bit more like barnabas, how different the church would be! we should not be so wise in our own minds as to decide what Jesus Christ can or cannot do with a person. saul is the best and greatest example of Jesus's power to save. looking back on his old self, the apostle paul states, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom i am the worst. but for that very reason i was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life".
if we all were little bit more like barnabas, filled with compassion and love for even "the worst of sinners", the spirit of grace and love that would overflow from our church could literally change the world, just like it did with the early church.
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2 comments:
Thank you for sharing your reflection Darla smn. I realized how often I want to be forgiven and understood but how I seldom discern someone else's sincere desire to be better. Once I have seen an offensive flaw in someone, I see them in a darker light and cannot seem to take that shade off of them even though I know they they have Christ in their life. I guess the key is to trust in Christ to complete the work He has begun and in obedience to Him be loving.
Thank you, Dulla smn!
As I was reading Saul's story and his transformation, I never really understood all the hate and malice he held against the early church and what a big player he was in their persecution. I mean, we all know the story of his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, but Christ took a man who hated him and turned him into one of the greatest "fishers of men" in the entire Bible. He killed so many Christians, but he helped saved so many lives by bringing them to the cross. And as we all know this, but God can only truly change the hearts of men.
I just thought it was interesting at the end of the passage how the Bible shares that there was a time of peace growth in the church, and I think it's because Saul is no longer the leader in the campaign against Christ, but now is the front runner for Christ. It just shows how big of a player he was in the early churches' persecution and how smart God is to "take out" that big player and convert him to His side. And I also realized what a passionate, deligent worker Saul/Paul was. Everything he did whether in the past killing Christians or later in his life supporting, spreading the Gospel, and serving the Church, Saul/Paul gave everything that was in him to his life's mission. I really admire that characteristic about him.
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