Acts 9:26-31 (NRSV)They were afraid of him because they did not believe he was a disciple. I can understand that. He was, after all, the guy who had been roaming the land looking for followers of The Way to have drug out and murdered. He was Saul. Barnabas, (a name the apostles had laid upon him which means 'son of encouragement'), took him in. Paul immediately proceeds to make an ass of himself by running around preaching without a license (*sarcasm...or is it?) and they took him away and sent him off to Tarsus for seminary and to get his head on straight.
26 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. 27But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. 30When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
The Church hasn't changed much in 2,000 years, has it?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a bad thing. I remember what an insufferably enthusiastic lunatic I was in the early days of my faith. I remember all the things I thought I knew. I remember how ridiculously exciting it all was. I remember. I do. I don't think it was a bad thing. I just know that it's probably a good thing I didn't have regular internet access and a blog.
Why? I barely knew a single blessed thing about what I was talking about. Oh, sure, I knew the basics. The bare basics. I just didn't get it yet. I didn't know better than to run around right after having been converted from having murderous rage against this new sect of Judaism speaking boldly and arguing with Hellenists..
Oh wait, that was Paul. He stayed insufferably enthusiastic and was later crowned the king of run-on sentences but those years he spent away obviously did him good. He got less 'fraidy cat looks from everyone after a while and he became the apostle to the Gentiles we all love to read cold from the lectern at the last minute because someone didn't show up. That guy. He still had issues. Couldn't really decide whether sex was a good thing or a bad thing. He liked to self depreciate and then turn around and give his credentials. Made lists of all the people who weren't going to heaven. Jesus seems to have made a ...
Oh consider what he started with! You don't get over being a Zealot over night. Not without having a psychotic break. He had a lot to deal with. I'm not sure everyone liked him all the time, but they learned to respect him, and love him for who he was. It took God loving him before he was lovable, when he was a vile TV preacher type on steroids with connections in law enforcement, to make him that guy we name cathedrals after.
Be patient. Be patient and try to remember what you used to be like.
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