Road Trippin With Rachael

As the Gosepl begins to spread, thanks to many of the factors that we have previously discussed, we segway to a few conversion stories and look at some of the implications that they have for early believers. As we look at three unique conversation accounts, we’re also going to be looking at how these testimonies had implications for the growing church and for the church as it stands today. 

Simon – The Magician

When we are introduced to Simon we are given some important details about him at the very beginning. These details have significance for what happens with him later on. 

1. Simon was in Samaria. As we learn from John 4 when Jesus meets the woman at the well, this region is regarded as a place a good Jewish man or woman wouldn’t be traveling. I speak at length about the the history of Samaria and the Hebrew people during the studies on Nehemiah and Ezra. In short, the Samaritans are the result of the Hebrew people left behind during the Babylonian Captivity intermarrying with the people of Canaan, and intermigled Hebraic faith with the religious practices of the Canaanites. In otherwords, although not expressly stated, it is likely that Simon was a part of this culture.  
2. Simon practiced sorcery. Leviticus 19:26 speaks expressly that Hebrew people were not to be involved in witchcraft. King Saul in I Samual 28 messed with this and it did not end well. Another way to put it would be that Simon was actively engaged in a lifestyle that opposed Christianity.
3. Simon had a conversion experience after hearing the Gospel when it was presented by Philip. It didn’t matter what his ethnicity was or that he was coming out of a cultural dynamic that had elements of truth, or that he was involved in a lifestyle that opposed God – the Gospel can bridge that gap. It is God who changes the heart of people, not the person presenting the Gosepl. 
4. Simon still had to overcome old thought patterns. When Peter and John come on the scene it became obvious that Simon didn’t totally understand what it meant to be indewelled by the Holy Spirit. This confusion extended to the point that he attempted to buy it, and that upset Peter. This results in the correction of Simon by Peter…in a less than gentle way…but it registers with Simon and it causes him to want to understand. 

What do we ultimately learn from Simon? In my opinion, what we learn from Simon is that it is possible for someone to hear the Gospel message, to have a conversation experience, to truly want to learn, and not really understand what they did. Now, I have a lot of thoughts on this as someone who has a background in Christian Education, but I’m not going to do a deep dive with that here. Maybe later, I’ll do a full discourse on this. The point I want to drive home here is that Simon was corrected and he was open to learning. New Christians need to be encouraged, questions need to be answered, and they need to be lovely corrected as they are learning and developing their theology (the study of God). As an aside, it doesn’t matter how long you have been a Christian, we all need to be developing out theology as we read scripture and take loving correction that comes from the counsel of scripture. 

The Ethiopian Eunich

Our friend, the Ethiopea eunich,  is also introduced to us in Acts, and is often a story that children learn about in Sunday School. As with Simon, we are given some details that would have communicated certain information and would have been obvious for the original readers or hearers. 

1. He was an official of Ethiopia. Although the Gospels and Acts (at this point) focuses on Isreal and the condaitions of what was going politically, the political landscape would not have been fully unique to Israel. Other places would have had similar situations in dealing with the Roman government and occupation. As with Israel, ther would have been Roman officials and there would have been officials of the people who were being occupied. As both an official and eunich, this man would have been fairly high up in the government. 
2. He had an interest in spiritual things. Those who are involved in church planting would say that he was a seeker. He wanted to learn about God, and he was putting forth the effort to learn it. Acts 8:32-33 references Isaiah 53:7-8, which was describing the crucifixion of Christ. The man also realized that he was missing something; he needed to have this explained to him. 
3. He was completely open to hearing the Gospel. When Philip explained the scripture to him, immediately he wanted to be believe and be baptized. His heart was ready and open to receiving the message of the Gospel. As a result, he does believe when he hears. Thus, he becomes a Gentile convert. 

As with Simon, we see someone who was not a part of the Hebrew community hearing the Gospel , and responding to it. Unlike Simon, this man was looking for God, while Simon was introduced to him.  What we specifically see here with this unnamed man is that once he had his conversion experience he immediately sought to be baptized. Therefore, we can conclude that sincerity deserves a response; in this case the response was to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Acts 8:39).

Saul – The Pharisee

Finally, we are introduced to probably one of the most influential individuals who comes on the scene during the church age – Saul. “But, Rachael,” you are probably thinking, “I thought the most influential person in the New Testament besides Jesus is Paul?” Aha! Saul would later have a name change to Paul – much in the same way that Simon became Peter (John 1:42), and Jacob became Israel (Genesis 32:22-32).   Let’s take a look at what we know about Saul.

1. Saul was a Pharisee. This is an important note as it tells you a lot about the caliber of man we are meeting. A Pharisee would have been the equivalent to a Doctrate of Divinity. These are the men who had Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) memorized, they would have been incredibly knowledgable about scriptural interpretation, and practical participation of the Law.
2. Paul was sent to pursue Christians so they could be tried for heresy (Acts 9:1-2), and he was present for the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58).
3. He has a dramatic conversation on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-9), which resulted in temporary blindness, and a complete life change.
4. Because of items 1 and 2, it took time for other Christians to trust that he had actually been converted (Acts 9:26-28).

Although, Paul’s conversion is an example of an extreme conversion, one that I would say is relatively atypical (not that there aren’t dramatic conversions, they just don’t tend to be as extreme as Paul’s). But what we can say from the example of Paul is that sometimes when someone comes to Christ there is a complete change in who they are and what they are doing with their life. As Saul, he was hunting Christians; as Paul, he was preaching the Gospel boldly. In my experience, having grown up attending church, we tend to think in the direction of extremes – we even call it a “Damascus Road Experience” – but a lot of people have a quiet conversion. It isn’t flashy, or extreme, but it is the quiet realization that we need Jesus; that we cannot do anything that is going to save us; and we aren’t going to be able to be good enough or tip some celestial scales in our favor. We realize we are sinners, confess our sins, and God becomes a part of who we are and how we live – it just isn’t fireworks the way Paul’s was. 

In Conclusion…

There is no such thing as a typical conversatio. Sometimes we are pulled from lives that are against everything God stands for. Other times, there are those who are actively searching and need someone to share with them the truths of scripture. Then there are the conversions that involve fireworks, but just as important are those quiet conversions where someone sees their need for Christ, and calls on him.