Pastor Chuck DeVane
Special to The Sentinel-Record
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
-- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Who is a Christian? Is she the Roman Catholic that never misses mass, goes to confession, and because of her own good works escapes Hell and Purgatory to go straight to Heaven? Is he the mainline Protestant whose parents put him in the church, attends on Christmas and Easter, minds his business and goes to Heaven because, according to their unitarian theology, everyone goes to Heaven anyway? Or is it an Evangelical who insists upon a born-again experience with God? I think the Catholics have too many teeth, most Protestants have lost theirs, and Evangelicals have the right bite. However, many of the them have false teeth.
Consider my own denomination, for example. Fourteen million Southern Baptists are currently on record as having made professions of faith. But, Lord knows, you can only find a fraction of them ever following or worshipping Christ. There is something dead and wrong with a person who does not practice the Christianity they profess.
Consider again the Apostle Paul in Acts 9. After his amazing conversion, the aftermath is a picture that should resemble every real Christian. Amazing grace and sincere faith make all things new.
A Christian has a right relationship with the Lord. The Pharisee Saul had a relationship with God, sort of. It was a false relationship based upon faulty principles. But after the Damascus Road, Paul "proclaimed Jesus ... saying, 'He is the Son of God, ... proving that Jesus is the Christ.'" Saul understood, and the pen of the Apostle Paul would flesh this out, that he was chosen by God the Father, redeemed by God the Son, and converted by God the Spirit. His new relationship equipped him for new responsibilities, especially those to gather with the church and then go out and tell others about God and God's Son, by the power of God's Spirit.
A Christian has a right relationship with the church. Remember that Saul had set out on the Damascus Road to destroy the church. After conversion, Paul helped edify and multiply the church. For 2,000 years, people have tried to destroy Christ's church, from without and within. And remember, neglect destroys more buildings than attacks. True Christians realize Christianity is as much a corporate relationship with Jesus Christ as it is personal. We love the church, we participate in church, we protect the church, we help the church to grow, and in the church we glorify God.
A Christian has a right relationship with people. The very Christians whom he formerly persecuted became his best pals, although with some understandable reluctance at first. These new friends would save Saul from his old friends. Ananias had helped him regain his physical sight and gain spiritual insight into the gospel and the Christian life. Barnabas stepped up and ingratiated Saul to the mother church in Jerusalem. Silas, Timothy, Titus, and others would befriend him and partner with him in his mission trips and church planting. Our Christian friendships are our best relationships.
Paul's embrace of Christ, His church, and His people is the reason for the happy ending of this story. There was "peace" in the church as it grew spiritually, edified, "built up." There was a healthy "fear of the Lord" and "comfort of the Holy Spirit" as the church grew numerically, "multiplied." This will happen in any church where the members truly know the Lord and love one another.
Robert Frost concluded his most famous poem, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Two roads diverge in this life we live, one is the road to destruction and the other is the road to Damascus. Christians who experience genuine conversion have proof to offer in its aftermath. That's the road taken by Paul. You take it, too. It will make all the difference in this life, and in the life to come.
Chuck DeVane is the pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church. Call him at 501-525-8339 or email [email protected].