Devotional Sharing, Submitted by Chul Kim, Gracepoint Berkeley.
Apostle Paul used the word, “appeal” repeatedly in this short letter to Philemon.
At this point, only if I were to be knowledgeable enough about Greek, I would look up to the original language for this word, “appeal”. KJV used the word, “beseech”. “Appeal” and “beseech” – these strong words show the fabric of Paul’s ministry. Here, Paul has a specific agenda with Philemon. He really wanted Philemon to forgive Onesimus for his wrongdoing and accept him as a brother in Christ. Yet, knowing the potential difficulty Philemon might experience in accepting this request, given the cultural backdrop of those times, Paul tried to help Philemon to accept this request out of his own personal conviction by elaborating many compelling reasons why he should do that. He tried to remind Philemon how Philemon himself is a beneficiary of grace of the Gospel of Christ through Paul’s ministry, which must have helped Philemon to come to his own decision to accept Onesimus as his brother in Christ. From this short letter, I can tell how much “caring”, “sensitive”, and “down to earth” Paul’s leadership was. Here, he did not sound a “cool” leader at all. He tried to pull out every single string he could possibly pull out to make sure that Philemon understood the genuine transformation happened in Onesimus’ life through Gospel that Paul himself experienced so that Philemon could accept Onesimus as his fellow brother in Christ through forgiving Onesimus’ wrongdoings.
“So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back – not to mention that you owe me your very self.”
(Philemon 1:17-19)
When apostle Paul said, “you owe me your very self”, it clearly shows what kind of minister he was. He was not just a preacher of the Gospel. He rolled up his sleeves and deeply engaged himself in people’s lives – exhorted, rebuked, corrected, and encouraged them. That is probably why he could confidently say to Philemon that “you owe me your very self”. Indeed, he was not a cool pastor who preaches from a pulpit and gives people enough respect that he just hopes that his flocks would be able to live their lives on their own according to what he preaches. Paul “appealed” to people for many different issues in their lives and really helped them to live their “daily lives” according to the truth of the Gospel. The way he wrote this letter reminded me of what he talked about his ministry in Ephesus with elders of a church in Ephesus when he had a farewell meeting with them at Miletus: “So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:31).
When I think about the way I have been ministering to people whom God entrusted to me, I often find myself not wanting to confront the realities of their inner world which is horribly tainted by their sins and issues. I find myself just wanting to remain as a cool leader who only says a few words for their souls and who naively hopes that everything is going to be OK in their lives. We are living in the world where all kind of sexual perversion is just a couple of “clicks” away on the keyboards of our laptops. We are living in the world with so many young people growing up, steeped in all kinds of addictions and sin issues. I should not kid myself by thinking that I have done my part as long as I “tell” them what to do for their spiritual life. As Dawson Trotman (the founder of “the Navigators”) said, “I should not think I taught them just because I told them and I should not think I learned it just because I heard it.”
I must accept my role as a spiritual leader and roll up my sleeves and do the work of God in people’s lives. LORD, have mercy on me.
Devotion Questions:
- What can I learn about spiritual leadership from the way Paul makes an appeal to Philemon?
- What is the role of spiritual leaders in a believer’s life and the formation of personal conviction?