And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”
Agrippa says the quiet part out loud. He's a king listening to a prisoner make his case, and instead of dismissing him outright, he admits Paul is actually getting to him. "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" isn't mockery so much as a man caught off guard by how close he's come to being convinced.
That's a more honest reaction than most people manage. Most of us, faced with an idea that's starting to land, either shut it down fast or pretend we were never close to moved. Agrippa doesn't do either. He names the pull and then, as far as the text tells us, doesn't follow it.
That's the part worth sitting with. Being nearly persuaded and being persuaded are two different addresses. You can find something compelling, even true, and still not let it change anything about how you live. The question this leaves hanging isn't whether the case was good. It's what you do with a case that's gotten to you.
Has anything about Jesus ever gotten close to persuading you, and if so, what happened after that?
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.