Accepting the Call

Acts 13:1-3

Saul and Barnabas were some of the first Christian missionaries. In fact, Saul spent much of his life persecuting and hunting down suspected Christians, only to repent and convert after a transforming vision of Jesus he had on the road to Damascus. Here, we find Saul and Barnabas meeting with the new church in Antioch, probably the most significant church of the later half of the first century besides Jerusalem. All of the elders of the church met with Saul and Barnabas in worship. It was there, before Saul undertook his epic missionary journeys around the Mediterranean, that he and his companion experienced the call of vocation. In worship, the Holy Spirit came down, speaking to the young Christians about the future of the newcomers.

It was here that Saul and Barnabas were set apart for evangelism. They accepted their vocational calling as missionary ministers and God would go on to use them in extraordinary ways to expand the Kingdom of God. It is interesting that Saul had already converted on the Damascus road. He had to constantly return to God in worship, communing with the Holy Spirit to seek the unfolding will of God. If Saul had simply stopped searching and praying once he had a great experience, he would never have evolved into the Apostle Paul!

On the Damascus road, God changed Saul's name to Paul, but he isn't called Paul with frequency until later in this chapter, after he begins his evangelistic ministry. Saul must LIVE INTO the person he was meant to be before he can really be changed. He had to accept the vocation, the calling, the responsibility of God's presence in his life before authentic change could occur. He met with the Holy Spirit in a small group of committed Christians, dedicated to seeking God's will and word. Then, only then, do we become true Christians.

It is not in transformative experiences that we can claim the name Christian, it is through living our transformation in our special called way. God has plans for each of us. May our transformative experience lead us to determining where we are called, that we might be surrounded daily in the Holy Spirit's presence. Where is God calling you now? We all have Saulish aspects remaining, but find out how to live more into our Paulish aspects! Be the new human. Be the Christ-made human. Be the human driven by the Spirit of love, not the Spirit of self.