Paul describes his background: 'I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.' He had everything: credentials, education, position. Then he met Jesus and gave it all away.
My father was a rabbi. I grew up expecting to follow the same path. I studied Hebrew. I went to the best yeshiva. I was being groomed for leadership in the faith community. Then at nineteen I became a Christian. My family sat shiva for me—they mourned me as dead. I lost everything: my inheritance, my family, my community, my religious status.
That was twenty years ago. I'm a pastor now at a church full of people from Orthodox backgrounds who've encountered Jesus. We meet in a rented space. We don't have the institutional power my family has. But we have something deeper: direct encounter with the risen Jesus. Paul abandoned his credentials. So did I. I don't regret it.
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