Acts 9:26 English Standard Version

Saul in Jerusalem

26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

This Saul was known to them as a prosecutor of Christians. This is the same man that became loved by many who knew him as Paul. His experience is unusual in history but we all have been changed by the love of God. My story isn’t that dramatic, but more so than some others.

There are two people we witness our conversion to these days. The first is the ones that knew us before we placed our faith in Christ. The second are those who we have met for the first time.

My first encounter with God was when I was a troubled teen. He changed me in a powerful and dramatic way. Within myself I knew God to be God but the concept of making Jesus the Lord of my life was lost on me.

I accepted His Lordship after the death of my father. That was when repentance of a life lived in sin came to the altar of redemption. Those that I worked with saw the change in me. The closer to me they were the more they understood how it was that I changed. They lost the disrespect I had earned and began to respect who I had become.

At my 30th anniversary celenration at work my division director gave a rather glowing speech about my service to the company. Afterwards a woman that I did not work closely with came up to me and said, “I didn’t recognize who Dewey was talking about. I was surprised to see it was you.”

She knew the old me but never got to know the new me. She was not one to give people second chances. I only worked there for another year but during that time, she discovered I had changed and why.

I am sure Saul didn’t convince everyone of his conversion only because there were some that I hurt so deeply they would not accept that I had changed. One said to me, “I don’t have that much forgiveness in me.”

That is a tale of being known before and after. What do you say to a complete stranger?

Here is a little secret that is often overlooked in witnessing those that we have just met.

Let them know who you are before telling them what you were.

Build trust before showing your rust.