This week in the Christian calendar was the feast of the Conversion of Paul/Saul. The story of Paul should spark a bit of fear in all of us, but also hope. It shows how easy it is for us to have things backwards, despite our best intentions—but it also the possibility of dramatic change, the possibility of redemption.
Saul was, to all outward appearances, a good religious man, concerned with upholding tradition and stopping the blasphemous Christian sect from leading people astray. He persecuted the early Christian movement, acting— he thought – on the side of justice…. until he had the original "Road to Damascus" experience: God speaks to Paul, asks: "Paul, why are you persecuting me?"
Paul was knocked off his horse, was struck blind, and then he waited for three days with his thoughts.
Paul's conversion required the Christian movement to stretch as well. Paul was not the only one who was shocked, because God tells Ananias, a follower of Jesus, to go visit Paul: it's almost as if George Bush were told to go unarmed and visit a repentant Osama Bin Laden. But Ananias does go, and Paul becomes a great leader of the church.
Reading this story of Paul on the Way to Damascus reminds me that we need all need humility: no matter how sure we are that we are right, we might be wrong, and so humility demands that we speak and listen to each other, that we grow.
Humility is relatively uncontroversial. But the story also reminds me that we need to question, to actively question our assumptions. Paul persecuted the church because the bundle of assumptions he had about goodness and right living seemed incompatible with this movement. And so, as pray together, I wonder what assumptions I might be holding that are hurting others, that someday God might call me to drop.
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