Paul’s first encounter with the risen Christ was a unique one and quite frightening. The turnaround of events led Paul to follow Christ and start serving in ministry. You can imagine being struck by lightning, falling to the ground, suddenly hearing a voice from an invisible person, and becoming blind for three days without food and water. Isn’t that unbearable? It is recorded in the Book of Acts that,
Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (9: 3-9)
The same God that Paul thought was serving rightly by breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (Act 9: 1b) is the same God who confronted him to change his evil actions. In the same breath, Paul had earlier on approved the killing of Stephen, who was among the disciples of Lord (Acts 8:1,3). It should always be the prayer of the faithful that God continues confronting and changing those who think they are serving God rightly and are not.
Everyone has a story to tell on how they encountered Christ the first time and started to serve in ministry. You wouldn’t compare Paul’s experience with the other apostles who met Jesus Christ before he died and was resurrected. For instance, Peter encountered Jesus Christ while fishing and had to leave his profession to follow Christ. It seemed an easy way for Peter compared to that of Paul.
My first encounter with Christ happened twenty-three years ago. After high school, it took five years of toiling doing menial jobs. Living a hopeless life, I resorted to drinking alcohol and smoking. Someone who was doing home visitation sympathized with my wasted life and prayed with me. I remember being filled with the Holy Spirit and praying a prayer of repentance. I decided never to turn back. Later, I decided to give up my life to serving God, humanity, and all creation, and my life has never remained the same.
I remember how I struggled in getting the assurance that God was calling me into ministry. It only took God’s intervention by speaking to me directly in a still small voice that I should not waiver but stand firm in my calling. There were discouragements alongside other opportunities that if I had given in, I would not have obeyed God’s calling to serve in ministry.
Anyway, what happens after encountering Christ for the first time is crucial to everyone who decides to be a Christian and serve in ministry. It can be difficult in living out the Christian faith and serve in ministry if you have not encountered Christ. The change that took place in Paul in becoming a Christian and receiving the call to serve in ministry was crucial. The transformational process of God creating a new being was foundational in sustaining and keeping Paul in his ministry.
It was not easy at first for those who knew who Paul was to believe the work God had done. It is recorded, “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.” (Acts 9:26) What transpired in Paul’s life gradually became proof that he had become a Christian and a servant of God. In the same way, at times, it is not easy for people to believe that someone has decided to follow Christ. It took some time for people who knew me to be convinced that I had decided to follow Christ. When some started to be confident that I had changed, they also decided to follow Christ and later accepted the call to serve in ministry. I am always grateful to God when I see those who took that step now serving in ministry.
Paul’s experiences after the transformation while serving in ministry were necessary for illuminating the work of risen Christ. For instance, in Paul’s second missionary journey, he visited Philippi, where he faced opposition through a demon-possessed, fortune-telling slave girl who brought money to her owners. Not wanting the agreeable testimony from an evil source, Paul cast the demon out. It did not go so well, and Paul was cast in prison because it enraged the girls’ master. The background of this story is recorded in the book of Acts (16: 16-24).
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Note that it is essential to be careful in discerning spirits; otherwise, it can be confusing in accepting some testimonies. That is why it is recorded in I John 4:1-2 that, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” The spirit of divination can disguise itself as a spirit of prophesying or foretelling the future. Being watchful is vital as Jesus advised that “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Mat. 7: 15). Everyone serving in ministry should advise accordingly in helping people not to be swayed.
Paul’s situation at Philippi was a difficult one in that if found in now as a Christian, one can quickly lose the mark. For sure, to be a Christian is not just butter and bread. Many people have been cheated into Christianity with the promise of goodies. Living out the Christian faith is no joke. Also, it extensively applies in the calling to serve in ministry. Generally, it touches on living out and experiencing Christian faith in serving God, humanity, and all creation.
God stood with Paul in jail, and he was miraculously released from prison together with Silas. Standing firm in exalting Christ in our life should be highly valued. It makes those who believe in Jesus Christ be called Christians. I have once been threatened to be taken to jail because of preaching the gospel, but it never worked out. God stood with me. It can be a difficult task, but it makes people come to Christ. For example, the jailer and his household came to Christ because of Paul’s experience. It is recorded,
The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. (Acts 16:29-35).
It is disturbing to note that as Christians, we can easily become a hindrance in propagating the Gospel of Christ. We easily compromise with existing regime and religious practices and customs that are destructive to life, especially if threatened. We often meet many challenges, and we can easily give up. Paul was under pressure to give in to the existing forces of evil especially wrought in the existing regime of power (Roman Empire) and religious practices and customs of the Jews. That is why Paul was put in prison. It is not any different with the happenings in the contemporary world that are contrary to God’s intent to humanity and all creation of a flourishing life.
For instance, I shared a story in my master’s thesis that,
While serving in ministry, I met a widow who came asking for prayer about what she was going through. The culture demanded that she had to commemorate her deceased husband. This forced her to sell her piece of land which was a great resource for her and her children because some of her children were in high school and college. There is a familiar ritual amongst the Maragoli sub-tribe of the Luhya tribe that I come from in the Western part of Kenya, that commemorates the dead called lovego (the name comes from what happens at the end of the ceremony when the hair is shaved for the dead).
As with the widow, this commemoration had become a burden for it was too expensive. The reason for the ritual is so that the living will not be haunted by the dead. The perplexing part of this scenario is the church’s involvement in presiding over the ceremony. This woman’s life was in shambles even after losing her dear husband. Who was she to blame? Did she do the right thing in doing the commemoration with respect to the African practices as justified by the church? The disturbing question is is this what Jesus Christ intended?
One of the concerns that I have raised while serving in ministry is about cultural practices that are destructive to the wellbeing of humanity. It has never gone so well for me in many ways, but God has always stood with me. For instance, in the story I shared, I continue to note that,
Though I felt this demand for commemorating the dead is expensive and oppressive, many Christians in my culture do not. This might seem just normal, but looking at it critically as a case study, could contribute to the myriad problems facing Africa. There is vulnerability to poverty in this state, which can have dire consequences. For instance, the education of the children is affected. This can be avoided if the church can clearly articulate the essence of the connection between the dead and the living.
Now it is recorded in Phil. 3: 7-11 that,
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul’s words are of great significance. He seems to be reacting to those who abide by the law in fulfilling the customs of the Jews (Phil.3: 2-6). This is something he was and now counted it as a loss. So, living such a life was useless and had no value. And for sure, we see how dearly he paid for it serving in ministry. So, in gaining Christ, it was a profit. I would say in these words lay the Christian ethic of hope connected to attaining resurrection from death which is a source of sustenance in living out the Christian faith (vv.10).
Jesus, at some point, noted, ‘do not fear who kills the flesh’ (Mat 10:28, Lk 12:4). So, though we naturally fear people who can cause our physical death, Jesus gives us the true, eternal perspective. We should not fear a human being but God. To me, this is what gave Paul the strength. And this is what should give us strength when we are threatened to give in to pressure that would otherwise destroy life. The essence of being safe with Christ in eternity is very vital.
Encountering Christ transforms one into becoming a Christian. Being a Christian is to be a child of God. Therefore, it means that in accepting to be a child of God, Christ must be illuminated through your life. Paul is an example of a child of God. Of course, children of God are those who not only believe in Jesus Christ but are born of God as recorded in John 1: 12-13 “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” Being a child of God comes with a responsibility of following Christ that entails pursuing Christlikeness. That is why Paul confidently noted, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1Cor. 11: 1)
Happy new year, full of blessings as we strive to be imitators of Christ.
- Oscar Lugusa Malande, Creating a transformed community: towards a constructive theology for Christian community formation in contemporary Africa (Earlham School of Religion, 2017), 6-7.
- Ibid., 7.
- All Biblical citations are from Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Perkins, Pheme; Newsom, Carol A.. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version. Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
Oscar Lugusa Malande is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Vihiga Yearly Meeting in Kenya and holds a Master of Arts in Religion and Certificate in Entrepreneurial Ministry from Earlham School of Religion. He is a doctoral student at the University of Birmingham, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. Oscar currently teaches at Friends Theological College Kaimosi in Kenya. Oscar is married to Zipporah Adema Mileha and they are blessed with four children, two girls, Axtel Imali and Georgia Muhonja, and two boys, Samuel Malande and Jay Riggs Mulindi.