The Disciples and Saul: Really? Do I have to Mentor this Person?

Have you ever wondered what happened in Saul’s life that led him to the decision to persecute Christians? What chain of events or what circumstance in life shifted the heart of this Jewish man into such a position that he would utter “murderous threats” in the name of God (Acts 9:1, NIV)?

In Acts 2, Stephen delivered an eloquent historical message to the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Council of the Jews, which detailed out their history and accused them of being too uptight to listen to and obey God. Stephen even went so far as to, truthfully, state to these Jewish men that they killed their Savior, the one for whom they had been waiting for so long.

Stephen’s speech and his accusation, as truthful as it was, angered the members of the Sanhedrin, but it wasn’t until Stephen proclaimed that he could see Jesus standing beside God that they covered their ears and rushed at him (Acts 2:54-58). Why cover their ears? Could they not stand to hear the truth?

Through all of this, Saul was present. Saul was listening and taking it all in. Interestingly, we find Saul mentioned as the young man who kept the coats for those who stoned Stephen (Acts 2:57-58). Because Saul was chosen to watch the coats, he was trusted and known. Because Saul is mentioned as a “young” man, it is likely that he had not fully stepped onto his path in life. Because Saul was watching the coats, he did not throw any stones at Stephen. This tells us that Saul was not yet known as a persecutor of Christians. Had he been known as such, he most certainly would have been more vocal and more hands on during this event.

Saul may not have lifted any stones to throw, but he was participatory, nonetheless. One must wonder how being privy to this entire scene as it played out affected him. We know that immediately after the stoning of Stephen, great persecution began against the Christians; they all, except for the apostles, scattered and Saul began his rampage to destroy the church (Acts 8:1-3). Was it, perhaps, hearing Stephen speak and then witnessing Stephen’s stoning that brought Saul to that breaking point resolution? Could it have been, maybe, that Saul actually was moved by what Stephen had said, but then taking part in Stephen’s stoning gave him some sort of guilt that he needed to justify, so he moved to rid the land of all Christians and put an end to their heresy?

There are people all around us who are hateful and ugly and mean. There are people all around us who can be biting and whose words sting. There are people all around us who irritate us and rub us the wrong way. We often take ourselves and scatter, or move away from, the ugliness, desiring not to be touched by it. Perhaps this is because we don’t want to be ugly back. Perhaps it is because we are tired of being hurt. Perhaps it is because we don’t know how to deal with it. Perhaps it is because we are not looking at those people as beautiful people who are made in God’s image. We don’t know what circumstances in the lives of others led them to behave in this manner, but we do need to recognize that something did in order to see them as Jesus sees them.

Let’s put ourselves in the place of the disciples. Saul who, for all they knew, “was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples,” suddenly wanted to join them (Acts 9:1, 19, 26, NIV). If we want to turn our backs on people who are pessimistic, negative, and mean, how much more would we want to run away from someone who wanted to, at best, put us in jail?

Ananias, who received a vision from God concerning the role that he was to play in Saul having turned to follow Christ, actually attempted arguing with God, letting God know it wasn’t safe for him to go to Saul (Acts 9:13-14). The disciples in Damascus, who would have had Ananias’ direct testimony, let Saul join them (Acts 9:19), but the disciples in Jerusalem reacted just as Ananias had when God first told Ananias to go to Saul (Acts 9:13-14, 26). It took a statement in support of Saul from Barnabas before the disciples in Jerusalem welcomed Saul into their midst (Acts 9:27-28).

Now, while Saul did begin to preach immediately concerning the fact that “Jesus is the Son of God,” it would have still been necessary for Saul to receive mentoring from the other disciples (Acts 9:20). Think about it: when people first become Christians, they are overflowing with the Good News and typically cannot help but share it with others. A relationship with Christ is personal, and it is that personal relationship that is a powerful testimony to others, but new believers, and Saul was a new believer, still need to be nurtured and grown. That task would have fallen to the disciples with different disciples mentoring him at varying levels. So, here were the disciples now mentoring a man from whom they had once, repeatedly, steered clear of because of his attitude and behavior towards them. The disciples needed to learn to look past what they saw when they looked at Saul so that they could see him how God saw him and help hold open that space as Saul moved onto the path which God had designed for him.

We will have difficult people in our lives. We will have difficult people in our small groups. We will have difficult people whom God has asked us to move closer to and with whom we are to build a deeper relationship.

Let us always remember that everyone has a story; everyone has a past. Everyone has a reason that they do what they do. Our task is to learn to see them as God sees them so that we can love them how God loves them and help to hold open space so that they can be empowered to step out onto the path that God has designed for them. What may seem like rebelling to us may be where God is already working in their life. Step back and step in to see the beauty in what God is doing!