We’ve all heard evangelists tell their stories of dramatic transformation – how Christ suddenly converted them from their selfish depravity to a holy life devoted to mission work. And we might be intimidated by such stories, either if we never remember a time when we didn’t trust in Christ or if we still struggle with besetting sin. For if we haven’t had such a “Damascus Road” experience, we might think we are disqualified from sharing the good news.

Well, we can’t deny that the sudden and dramatic change in Paul’s perspective was a big surprise to everyone. The people in the synagogues in Damascus couldn’t believe that the man who had come to their city to arrest any Christians he could find was now preaching in Jesus’ name (v. 21). And when Paul went back to Jerusalem, the disciples were initially afraid of him, perhaps imagining that his conversion was some sort of trick to gain evidence to use against them when he hauled them into court (v. 26).

But isn’t it interesting that Paul didn’t spend a lot of time talking about his Damascus Road experience? Instead, immediately after he was baptized, he simply proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God (v. 20), proving from the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah (v. 22). And it was Barnabas, not Paul who told the Jerusalem disciples about his dramatic conversion (v. 27). Paul was too busy preaching boldly in the name of the Lord, especially to those Jewish people who, like Paul, were familiar with the Greek language and culture (vv. 28-29).

So, Paul’s priorities make one thing clear: evangelism isn’t about us – it’s about Jesus. So, don’t worry about trying to tell your personal story – just tell people what the Scriptures say about Jesus, in the same way that Paul did. And let your devotion to Christ and your passion for the lost speak for themselves.

Acts 9:19-31 (ESV)

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him,
25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26 And 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.
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him.
30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.