“1 ‘Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.’ 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter. 3 He continued, ‘I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and educated according to the strict view of our patriarchal law. Being zealous for God, just as all of you are today, 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women in jail, 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to bring those who were prisoners there to be punished in Jerusalem.'”

Acts 22:15
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Paul begins addressing this hostile crowd in Jerusalem by addressing his own past & by exposing his personal history to them. Before they hear anything else, they need to see and know who he is and who he once was. This isn’t for Paul’s credit, but it does establish him as a human being in their eyes. With this kind of mob-mentality and violent rage going on, they needed to be reminded of the simple fact that he was a real human being. They also needed to know that he was someone that understood them. Paul firmly established his credibility in stating that he learned under Gamaliel & by addressing his proximity to the High Priest. He was basically saying that he was, at one point, one of them. He was zealous for the old traditions, just like they were, and he held a deep and abiding love for Jerusalem, the Temple and everything that they held dear…but obviously, something had changed.

When you and I speak to people who are opposed to Christ, who rail against us, it may also be helpful to establish our past with them. I usually tell people that breaking down your testimony into three parts will help them understand you more, see your heart more clearly and discover that you’re not some self-righteous hypocrite. The three parts are quite simple: “This is who I was before I met Jesus. This is how I met Jesus. This is what He’s working in me now.” A personal testimony is difficult to dispute. It is even more powerful when we let them see our imperfections, foibles and flaws. 

Paul wanted this crowd to know who he was, so he could establish a credible link with him and what he was getting ready to tell them. When we GoLove others for the sake of Christ, we need do the same, and that is often best established through personal transparency. Transparency helps people see that we aren’t just trying to lord something over them or to guilt them for not being like us. Instead, it introduces them to the story that God is writing in us, and it allows them to see our weaknesses, which in turn makes them more comfortable and reestablishes our humanity in their eyes. In short, transparency is disarming. 

But transparency does not come naturally. We have to endure it as a discipline. We want to be guarded, we want to keep our walls up. Exposing our weaknesses might give our opponent an opportunity to assault us further or do malign our character. Transparency lets them see into the depths of who we really are and it leaves us standing exposed. But that’s also why transparency is so powerful. It points past us and directly to the handiwork of God. It says, “I don’t have everything together.” Instead transparency points toward our own need for a Savior, and at that point becomes our witness to God’s goodness, faithfulness, mercy and grace. When we are transparent, we quit blocking the view toward Christ. Paul does that wonderfully, both here and in all his writings. We should go and do likewise and let people see Jesus Christ instead of seeing us.