It is a hard turn to go from a familiar course and make a radical change. In my mind the word radical sounds, well, radical!
The dictionary definition says radical means an action that affects the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
So should we all pursue radical change? How helpful is it to change something part-way but not fully? Or just stay settled in the status quo. Or worse, fight tooth and nail for the old way to be the only way.
When I was a new believer, radical change was hard but welcome. I didn’t like the results of how I had been living and it was more and more apparent that I was not choosing a successful and sustainable life path. It has been a hard turn from the worldly ways of earning my place (in school, in jobs, in relationships) and then grasping those gains so tightly that all appropriate confidence or appreciation or common courtesy and kindness are strangled by that tight grip.
The new approach has been on-going and it still is. Bible teachers call it sanctification, the on-going work of life changed from self-focus and fearful living to God-focused and trust-based living. An action that affects my fundamental nature; far-reaching and thorough.
If you are currently reading the Book of Acts with our church, you will recognize we are reading of just such a time of radical change, the most radical true change ever recorded.
At the beginning of Acts chapter 8, we read of the man named Saul who believes zealously that his path is the right and only path of honoring and protecting that which he believes to be true. He radically opposes those who were putting their faith in Jesus of Nazareth.
And Saul approved of (Stephen’s) execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Acts 8.1-3
It is a hard read, isn’t it? But don’t stop here! In just the next chapter, the radical goes the other way! The “Where I used to be …” is always necessary so that the “But God did this …” carries the full impact of God’s work in us and through us.
Just like in my life and yours, when we admit our complete inability to set things right, to save ourselves, the work becomes not of keeping things the same but wanting others to experience the radical work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
So this week, Acts 8: Saul the persecutor of followers of Jesus.
Next week, Acts 9: Saul the radically changed man, still zealous for sure, but powered not of his own zeal but of the Holy Spirit.
Saul (who became widely known by his Greek name Paul) recounts his conversion in Acts 22.
He spends the rest of his life living with one purpose: sharing the gospel wherever the Lord sends him. He lived the “Go and tell” life radically and without apology.
Who will you tell this week?
Trusting the Lord with you, Colleen
We are passionately connecting our community to Jesus so God is glorified and lives are changed forever!