Acts 22 Study Guide

Family Study Guide for February 8, 2006 - Feburary 14, 2007
(Read Acts 22 Online)

Reflections on Acts 22 by Mark Chesner, Coach

Often in reading the Bible, it seems like when we call ourselves Christian, we can not be anything else. Jesus says that He must be the most important person in our lives, and that even family can not come before our walk with God. God is a jealous God, wanting everything of us. Does this mean that we can not also be other things? Can we still be part of families? Can we be Americans? Can we ally ourselves with sports teams, with schools, with hobbies? Or does God want our only identity to be Christian?

We gain a glimpse into this issue in Acts 22, where Paul is facing torture after having been shouted down by a crowd of riotous Israelites.

As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?"
Acts 22:25

We see here, as Paul in the midst of suffering for his faith, that he uses his identity as something other than Christian to further his Christian witness. By claiming Roman citizenship, he saves himself from further flogging, and ultimately this appeal will lead him to Rome where he will be able to witness to those of the Emperor's court.

God uses every part of us to serve His Will. While our primary identity shoud be as His child, He will make use of those other identities that we take on and the other groups we join with. We should not be afraid to reach out, and to always be looking for ways that our activities "outside church" can be used to glorify God.

Questions to Consider
- How has something you do outside of church been used to glorify God?
- What is one activity you take part in, where you can use the time to witness to others?
- What is one identity other than "Christian" that God can use?

Bible.Org Outline for Acts 22
b. Recounting His Conversion (22:1-11)
c. Recounting His Call (22:12-21)
4. The Disclosure of Paul’s Roman Citizenship (22:22-29)
5. Paul before the Sanhedrin (22:30–23:10)
a. Confrontation with the High Priest (22:30–23:5)