The church is intended to be a safe place where sinners can both confess their sins, and be delivered from their sins. For that to happen, the church needs to be both loving and forgiving - willing to trust God with those who come to Him and accept those who are quite different than they themselves are. Saul, who later becomes Paul experiences this kind of love from those he came to persecute. His enemies became his friends and his friends became his enemies.
Introduction
“I can worship God anywhere”. “Church is full of hypocrites.” Church is not a castle for elitist people, it is more like a hospital full of every kind of human sickness where folks seek to be healed. It is not intended to be a cruise ship with every kind of luxury, it is supposed to be a lifeboat rescuing those drowning in human misery. The church was never intended to be a club for select elites, but for those who are desperate for hope, forgiveness, and acceptance. We need to be loved, not in a lustful sensuous way, but in an uplifting, pure and encouraging way. For that to happen, we need each other to build each other up in love. This does not happen on our own, but in community where we face our own character faults as well as learning to manage with those of others, all the while yearning to grow in our faith into the likeness of Jesus from one level of glory to the next.
Read Text
Paul does not become the person he is going to be on his own. When he met Jesus, it was not only his concept of god that changed! But everything. He switched sides, which means those he was representing, his friends were about to desert him! How would the other Messiah followers accept him? Would others be willing to accept him for real, or would they suspect them? Look at who is involved in his growth as a new Christian:
The virtues that the church shares! Forgiveness, Reconciliation, trust, and love.
Friends who become enemies! Enemies of truth, God, and his church!
The focus of the church is greater than “what does it bring me”. It is about us all and God’s love for all who are different than I am. The focus on God keeps us sensitive to Him and HIS WAYS!
My friend Wilkin in Holland wrote a book recently: God is Love, Period. Here is an excerpt:
"Sometimes I get asked if I'm not afraid we'll develop a hug theology if we emphasize so strongly that God is love. 'God is first and foremost holy, right? "I always answer this question with another question: "Did God create Adam and Eve because He is holy, or because He is love?" "An extension of that is: "Did God send His Son into the world because He is holy or because He is love? “The answer is clear: ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16, GN). It is not a question of whether God is love than that He is holy. He's both. God’s love and His holiness are both constant – they never become less or more. But it makes sense whether we start with God's holiness or with God's love. If we begin to emphasize that God is first and foremost holy, then there is a danger that we develop a distorted image of God. Then the God of heaven and earth - who as a father loves his children – may seem to be distant, numb, or even unattainable in our minds. Then we could continue to ask: 'Can I ever meet the standards that a perfect and holy God asks of me? ‘Whoever constantly hammers that God is holy, highly exalted, and a mystery – and that is all true – creates a greater distance between God and people that He loves. As a result, people on their own will try to meet God's standard, and holiness is devalued to appearance. The God that is love is becoming more and more the God of must and cannot. God knows how we can get stuck in our thought patterns, rules of behavior and rituals. We must go to church twice on Sunday. We need to pray, read the Bible, and give our tithes. We must evangelize and believe without doubting. In one church you are not allowed to do this. In the other church you are not allowed to do that. Church sometimes looks more like a prison than a house of God. It can appear to be a Christian bubble full of human rules, instead of a house of love where lost sons and daughters may come home to the arms of their Heavenly Father."
From: God is love period! by Wilkin van de Kamp
For Paul, he left his anger, murderous heart, threats, and evil desires to find a community of love where he, of all people, did not deserve it.