The Dream Team: Understanding Paul

Are your biblical communities gathering to “sit and get,” or to “grow and go make?” When a football team huddles together, they do not just stay together, they gather and then break to their position and go execute the play-call.

One of the greatest examples of gathering to go and make is the transformation story of Paul. He is one of the most well-known individuals in the Bible who authored thirteen letters of the New Testament. But, before he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he was a leading force behind the persecution of believers.

Paul’s transformation begins when Jesus speaks to him on the road to Damascus. But Jesus did not just leave Paul there alone. The Lord spoke to a disciple named Ananias and commanded him to go to Paul. Despite Ananias’ hesitancy, he obeyed the Spirit and laid hands on Paul who then arose and was baptized. 

After this, we see in Acts 9:20 that Paul was with the community of believers in Damascus and then later gathered with the apostles in Jerusalem. Luke then records, “And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus” (Acts 8:31). This gathering and then sending, directly resulted in a massive Gospel movement among the regions of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria.

So, like the original disciples and apostles, we must listen and obey the Spirit, gather in community, and then go from those communities to share the Gospel and make disciples.