The direction of this column is moving towards Paul and his global vision. The brief studies on the new perspective will help in looking at how he wrote this vision into his letters. More of that will come much later. In the meantime and for the next few weeks this column will explore Paul's calling. After that I will look at the major events and epochs in his life that shaped and colored that vision.

It is logical that the major themes of his writing would reflect the central calling on his life. Paul, as diligent as he was in his integrity, would never would have deviated far from what his Lord would have called him to do. That would always be the priority for his ministry and for his correspondence.

What was that calling, and where do we find it? We find it when we read what his Lord told him. Three times Paul recounts his Damascus Road encounter with Christ. In each of them he gives the explicit directions from Christ for him, through Ananias to whom Paul was sent.

Acts 13:15, instructions to Ananias from Christ to tell Paul, "He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." Acts 22:15: "You will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard." Acts 26:18: "I am sending you to open the eyes of the Gentiles so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."

To us today that may sound like no more than a calling to a specific place and people. No big deal, just specificity that ends a time of searching and prayer. That was not the case with Paul's calling to the Gentiles. The first section of this column illustrates that, the relations of Jews with one specific Gentile group, the Samaritans.

Paul was called to a segment of the world whom his people and he considered unclean, polluted, and profane. There was no place for them in the Kingdom. For Jesus to call Paul "to preach to them the unsearchable riches of Christ" takes the mission of God out of bounds, as far as the Jews thought.

This calling was radical. No, more - it was unheard of, blasphemous, and impossible. Paul had to rethink all he had been taught in order to see how the message of the Kingdom was not superseded by this but was extended in a way consistent with all he had in the Scriptures. It took Paul three years in Arabia to work this out.

There was another part of the calling, more an anticipation of what to expect from preaching to the Gentiles. He would face stiff opposition. Jesus added this caution to his call, so he would know what was coming. In Acts 22:17 Christ appeared to him following the encounter, when Paul was in Jerusalem preaching. Jesus said to him, "Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your testimony about me." (Acts 22:18) In Acts 13:16 "I will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name." And in Acts 26:17: "I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles."

Next week - the succinct summary of his calling, written in Ephesians 3:5-10, and the implications that continue to this day.

Rev. Tad de Bordenave
Founding Director, Anglican Frontier Missions