Acts 11:26
For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
We just read last week about Saul encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus and experiencing this incredible conversion. I think one thing that is so attractive about this story is that he was SO "bad" and he quickly became so "good." It's the classic villan-becomes-hero transformation. Like in Star Wars where Vader turns on the Emperor.
Sometimes God does that, a quick, stunning conversion.
But sometimes it takes longer and that's what we see in Antioch. Paul and Barnabus stayed with these people for a whole year. They invested in this community. They didn't swoop in, leave some copies of an instruction manual and then move on to the next place. And that might just be what made the people listen.
When you really care about a person, you invest your time in them. It really is the most valuable thing we have to give. Whether it's your child, a friend who needs to know your relationship is important, your aging parent or the stranger who walked into your church for the first time last Sunday, when we are patient and giving of our time, that's how we communicate that that person is a priority to us. And that's where the Spirit can move.
