Conversion Stories

Today in our Bible Study we'll be looking at Paul's conversion story in Acts 9. It's a story that carries dramatic weight for Christians. Here is the great persecutor of the earliest believers, he has already cast his vote against the saintly Stephen (Acts 7), and is now on his way to Damascus, breathing fire down on the scattered church.

Along the way, so the story is told in Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus (he's not Paul until Acts 13), is knocked to the ground and blinded by a flash of light from the heavens. With the light comes a voice, "Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting me?" In response to his query as to who has visited him, he asks: "Who are you Lord?" At that point Jesus reveals himself and issues a call to Saul, calling him to be his emissary to the Gentile world. This story is told in several other ways in Acts and in Paul's letters.

The question I want to pose concerns the nature of conversion. First, should we take Paul's conversion experience as being normative? That is, should a person's conversion experience be dramatic, an about face from a previous life?

What about the person who has grown up in the church, never knowing anything but the Christian community?

Is a non-dramatic conversion any less important than the gradualist form that Horace Bushnell described more than a century ago in his book On Christian Nurture?

For Mainline Protestants the whole conversion narrative has become difficult to hold together with our broader understandings of God's purpose and calling. Besides, not everyone has that experience of living a morally debased life prior to conversion. Indeed, many life long church people feel their testimony is less valuable because it's not dramatic.

In trying to understand the meaning of Paul's conversion for today I read the chapter in Anthony Robinson's and Robert Wall's Called to be Church (Eerdmans, 2006). They point out that in the Acts narrative, rarely do we see a morally reprobate person converting. What we see is good people who become new people. They write with regard to the conversions of Paul, Cornelius, the Ethiopian Eunuch and Lydia, all righteous in their own way, that a change still happened.

In the sense of their turnarounds, "conversion" means crossing boundaries and barriers and reaching a whole new way of seeing and understanding life. Conversion is more about putting an end to ignorance than to immorality. (p. 141).

They also suggest that conversion in Saul's case is also about being called to service. In Acts 9:15, Jesus gives Saul a new purpose -- he will be the ambassador to the Gentiles. He's also told that he will suffer for Jesus. Might that not also be part of conversion. We hear those who would say, come to Jesus and all your problems will disappear, but that's not the biblical story.

What say ye?

Comments

Anonymous said…
We hear those who would say, come to Jesus and all your problems will disappear, but that's not the biblical story

--ahh the prosperity gospel.. I think Paul and others would have a seriously hard time with this idea. Prison, persecution, death all proceeded to those who followed Jesus.

As for conversion.. I think all are possible. Isn't it great that you don't have to kill Christians like Paul before you find Jesus? The person who has always known the Lord tells a wonderful love story that is equal to the person who hit bottom.. but discovered one greater than themselves to get out. The story of Jesus rescuing people in any situation is amazing.. regardless of the situation.

Chuck
Anonymous said…
Non-dramatic conversions are every bit as "important" as more dramatic ones - even if they are not as compelling in the telling. Moreover, the non-dramatic stories should be a source of affirmation for so many who share a less storied story.

And discipleship is about responding to our Lord with gratitude and a life of grateful living. It is not about rewards, nor about meeting requirements.

John
Anonymous said…
"We hear those who would say, come to Jesus and all your problems will disappear, but that's not the biblical story."--

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my sister a few years ago concerning the actions of our father. Dad is a retired Methodist minister and my sister is an actively practicing Christian--Me, not so much. Anyway, She worriedly shared this account: while driving from home to our family farm, Dad had picked up a hitch hiker along the highway. He took the apparently homeless man to a small roadside motel, paid for a couple nights' lodging and then went on his way. Our Dad was then in his late seventies and my sister was understandably concerned about his judgment and his safety. But what occurred to me in the way of a response was this: Well, since when has being a Christian been the safest thing to be? With the recognition of this truth, we were both able to let it go, thankful that Dad had not met with trouble and, for me, deeply impressed by the courage of his conviction.
Kay said…
Well, being a Christian may not always be safe for your body but I think it is safe for your spirit :)

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