Conviction
Imagine God asks you to bear witness for Him.
While Paul was looking intently at the council he said, ‘Brothers, up to this day I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God.’ Then the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. At this Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law you order me to be struck?’ Those standing nearby said, ‘Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?’ And Paul said, ‘I did not realize, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, “You shall not speak evil of a leader of your people.” ’ When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.) Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, ‘We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’ When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks. That night the Lord stood near him and said, ‘Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.’ - Acts 23:1-11
When Paul had his conversion experience, he probably realized he would be facing some challenges as he went out and spoke to the people of his faith and to others.
He would be doing exactly what he persecuted people for before his conversion, so I am sure he knew his actions would put him in jeopardy from people just like him, Pharisees, leaders of the faith.
But I wonder if he thought he would be brought before Rome. After all, he was a Roman citizen and should observe some rights not afforded to others.
The message for us, I think, is one of commitment to God.
What we say we believe, we must be willing to defend before anyone who seeks to judge us. We should not be eager to back down, if we truly believe what we say we do.
Paul's conversion experience gave him that confidence in his faith that we long to have, but our conversion may be different.
So, if our actions are an indicator of our faith, as Paul shows and James tells us in his letters, then people will judge our level of faith by how strongly we defend it, and how much conviction we show in pursuing it.
Our mission, then, is to live the faith fully. And when called to be a witness, like Paul, we must be willing to go.
More to come...