Giving a Future Apostle the Side-Eye

 

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple.

Acts 9:26

It's hard to blame the Jerusalem Christians for being a bit leery of Saul of Tarsus.

The last time they had seen him, he had promoted himself from coat-checker at Stephen's stoning to judge-jury-executioner on his way to Damascus, warrant in hand, ready to round up and jail every Christian he found.

So when he shows back up in Jerusalem trying to be all "Hey! Shalom shalom, my brother!" they were, naturally, sceptical.

He hadn't changed his name to Paul yet. He hadn't travelled throughout Asia Minor and the coastal regions of the northern Mediterranean planting churches yet. He had yet to set pen to papyrus to write a quarter of the New Testament. 

I'm so glad those Jerusalem believers got beyond their distrust of Paul's past. I'm even more glad that Paul didn't let their scepticism destroy his bold faith.

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Truth is...Mutual funds and stock portfolios will tell you that "Past performance is no guarantee of future results," but that also applies to everyone you meet...and you, too.