Origin Story

Anyone that has ever read a super hero comic knows the importance of a good origin story. Everything you need to know about a character should come thru in his origin story. If you want to know why Batman is the “dark knight” or why Spiderman puts up with all the grief he receives, you need to read the origin story.  Similarly, if you want to understand the apostle Paul, all you need to do is look to his origin story and his conversion to Christianity.  The events on the Damascus Road in Acts 9 shaped Paul into the man we see throughout the Bible.  When Paul is put on trial for his actions as an evangelist, his defense is the re-telling of his conversion (Acts 22:3-21; 26:9-23).

 Paul doesn’t start out the hero of this story however; he is the main villain.  In the beginning, Paul is the chief persecutor of the church and believed that he “had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” But after Jesus speaks to him on that desert road, his entire world is changed.  Now the faith he sought to destroy is the faith that saves him.  He also at this time is given a task to take the Gospel to the Gentile world.  He knows from the beginning that this task will cause him great suffering. Even with this knowledge, Paul doesn’t shy away from his ministry.  He is “obedient to the vision” and spends the rest of his life preaching and teaching the Gospel.

His ministry is one of constant peril, suffering and setbacks (read 2nd Corinthians 11:23-28 for examples).  Even with all this, Paul has an intense dedication to the work and will not let anything keep him from the task. That intensity sometimes would lead him to confrontation with other apostles (Galatians 2), disagreement with His friends (Acts 15:35-40), and even attempts on his life (Acts 23-12-14). Still none of this seems to wear out his zeal to spread the Gospel.

His dedication to the work as an evangelist is rooted in his conversion.  Paul told his protégé Timothy in 1st Timothy 1:12-16, the second chance given to him by the grace of God is what strengthened him to carry on.  If God could save Paul, the “chief of sinners”, than anyone could be saved. Paul saw the message as the most important thing in the world and worked harder than anyone to spread it (1 Corinthians 15:3-10).  His origin story is one that shows us even the “worst” can be transformed into greatness. Paul’s ministry still inspires and convicts today through his example and his letters. His life and leadership were based on the idea that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost”. Paul stands like a monument to the saving power of Jesus Christ.