"And I am
praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith
as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ." - Philemon 1:6
I was reading Philemon this
weekend, and many things stood out to me.
Paul's tone with Philemon,
acknowledging Philemon's friendship, fidelity, and good heart.
Paul's audacious, unapologetic
request, challenging Philemon to go above and beyond what society, and even
religious respectability, required of him. In fact, in a shame-based society
obsessed with social and familial order, Philemon would probably have "lost
face" for refusing to enforce societal norms and punish his runaway slave.
But mostly, I was impressed with
how Paul prayed about Philemon's hoped-for behavior: "And I am praying that you
will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you
understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ."
Philemon was Paul's friend, but
he was also a very real threat to another one of Paul's friends. Philemon was a
good man, but he was also a man who made use of the advantages his privileged
standing in society afforded him, at others' expense. Philemon had been set
free in Christ, but Onesimus, Philemon's slave, apparently felt he had to flee Philemon
to find freedom for himself.
Paul gushed about Philemon's
glowing qualities, but I wonder if Onesimus would have? From the pressure Paul
applied, it seems even he acknowledged that a little redemptive arm-twisting
may be necessary in order to save Onesimus from Philemon's "right" to inflict
cruel punishment on his "property."
Going Beyond Religious Expectations
But look at how Paul does it.
He acknowledges Philemon's heart,
not calling him an oppressor, but a brother with good intentions.
He appeals to Philemon's higher
nature, giving him the opportunity to act generously, and go above and beyond
religious expectations.
And he expects that Philemon will
do this, will act generously, as he understands and experiences all the good
things he has in Christ.
How often does our material,
social and spiritual stinginess, our judgmental legalism (whether we're acting
as an "oppressor" or "activist"), spring from a deep-seated sense of spiritual
poverty-of fear, inadequacy, of lack? How can we offer others abundant,
grace-drenched, freeing love if we have never received or experienced it
ourselves?
Perhaps, instead of yelling at
our brothers and sisters in Christ to change, instead of manipulating them into
doing things the way we think they should be done, or wielding shame and
intimidation as steely "spiritual" weapons, we should be praying Paul's prayer:
that we would ALL understand and experience all the good things we have in
Christ, and that it would compel us to spiritual, material, and social
generosity.
Jenny Rae Armstrong
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