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In the Gospels, Jesus calls disciples in a relatively straightforward manner. He sees people and invites them to follow him. Saul’s call is much more dramatic. He sees a blindingly bright light, and he hears a voice that identifies itself as someone that Saul thinks is dead. Saul is quite literally overwhelmed by what he sees and hears.
New Testament scholars agree that Paul’s (the other name for Saul) experience is not a conversion in the sense of changing from one religion to another. It is better described as a call to a new understanding and new behavior. One commentator described Paul’s experience as a conversion from living in opposition to God’s will to acting in accordance with it. What can be difficult for us to wrap our heads around is that when Paul was persecuting Christians, he thought he was doing God’s will. Unfortunately, church history is full of examples of God’s people getting it wrong, just like Paul did. Thankfully for Paul and for the new Christian community, Paul saw the light.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “We are called!” by Kathryn A. Kleinhans in the January/February 2020 Gather magazine.