I Stand Here Testifying: Applying Paul's Use Of Autobiography To Our Preaching
"I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here testifying to small and great alike." Acts 26:22
All preachers struggle with it from time to time. While crafting a sermon, you recall a personal story that could be an effective illustration for some point. However, you wonder if using the self-disclosive account is the right thing to do. Indeed, autobiography in preaching can be risky, and it requires special thought and discernment on the part of the preacher.
Fortunately, Paul the preacher offers us some guidance in this matter. In Acts 22 and 26, the apostle employs autobiography in his sermons. As he testifies "to small and great alike," he uses three key principles of self-disclosure that we can apply to our own practice of pulpit autobiography.
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"I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you." Acts 26:16
In his autobiographical speech to Agrippa in Acts 26, Paul recounts Jesus' words of commission. In the Damascus vision, the Risen Christ appoints Paul to be His "servant" and His "witness." The word for "servant" (hyperetes) emphasizes Paul's relationship to Jesus. Paul is to serve his Master and be faithful to his Master's commands. The word for "witness" (martys) identifies one who testifies to what he has seen and heard. As a faithful servant of Christ, Paul uses his personal story as he preaches to Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Romans, peasants and kings-"small and great alike" (26:22).
And as he employs self-disclosure in his preaching, a key factor for Paul is clarity of motivation.
Paul's Motive: A Heavenly Command
Paul's messages in Acts 22 and 26 are missionary sermons couched in rhetorical defenses.1 Both autobiographical addresses include a narratio, the part of a defense speech that focuses on the core issue of a trial case. A significant element of the narratio is known as the justifying motive, or "justification for the act in dispute."2 Responding to his accusers, Paul defends his actions for which he is accused by issuing his motive: a heavenly command to preach. He recounts for Agrippa and the audience how, during the Damascus vision, Jesus appointed him to be a servant and witness for the sake of Jews and Gentiles. Jesus enlists Paul "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me" (Acts 26:18). The content and form of this divine commission is similar to those God issued to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel in the Old Testament.3 Paul, familiar with his Hebrew scriptures, must have recognized the parallels of his calling to the prophets whom he had studied and revered. This realization could only have intensified his commitment to the command set forth by his new Lord.