Mondern day Paul

This weekend I attended an event and had the opportunity to stand before a group of people with a microphone in my hand. At one point I dared to compare a living person, someone present in the room with the apostle Paul. Heresy? Blasphemy? Gee, I don't know...

Paul was a spiritual Giant! Is it possible today for someone to be like Paul was? Perhaps. Should we expect a one-to-one correlation? A modern day clone? I think not. But if we exam the life of Paul as a whole and the contribution that he made to the Christian community of his time, we may be able to draw some parallels.

At the very beginning, I want to point out that I am specifically talking about PAUL, not Saul. Yes I know that they were the same human being, but they were two entirely different people. There is probably no better example of one who was born again in the Spirit of Christ, one who died to Self and lived for Christ. I want to focus on the new Paul and not the old Saul.

From the moment he was knocked to the ground and blinded, until the day he died, he was a changed man, entire devoted to his Saviour. Now, we all know people who have been "changed" by Christ. That is the way it is supposed to be. I've heard is said, "If it were a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" If Christ is in us, we cannot be the same as we were.

So, what made Paul so different? First of all, he was on a mission considerably different than the other apostles. He was dedicated to bringing the Good News of the Gospel to the Gentiles, where as the rest of the apostles were primarily charged with leading the Jews to saving Grace. In modern times that might look like someone speaking to the un-churched in industry as opposed to a preacher speaking to the religious.

More than any other apostle, Paul went places, taking the Gospel with him. He did not preach at the same synagogue week after week, year after year. He went from town to town. Pick up any Bible with a map in it and you can see that Paul went on several "journeys" where he covered a LOT of ground. Paul truly was the FEET of Jesus. He carried the Gospel to far off places where God led him. Today, that far off place might be the office building right across the street from a prospering church. It might be the bar or the crack house on the wrong side of town. It might be and industry convention, attended by thousand of people from around the world. The fact is, today there are now billions of people FAR from God, but geography is not so much a factor. A modern day Paul would have to go THERE, were they are AND proclaim the Gospel. How many people do you know like that?

Of all of the Apostles, there is probably none that was a better mentor than Paul. As near as I can tell, he never traveled alone. He always had a partner, or supporting cast with him. When he spent time building a new church he sought out the leaders and he pour himself into them. He embodied the very Servant Leadership that Jesus tried to teach the others. He built up his followers until they were able to stand on their own. He trained his leaders until the could teach boldly and lead effectively. Do you know anyone like that?

Throughout his ministry, Paul never lost sight of who he was and whose he was. He was a man, saved by Grace and he belonged to a Savior who loved him immeasurably. More than anything else, Paul wanted to share that love with the entire world. He LIVED it!

We all know folks that are "good people." We have all heard pastors that were great teachers. We have all seen tremendous acts of service by ordinary people. But, how many of us have seen a "Paul"?

If you have, I would love to hear about it. Please share your story.