I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Titus and Philemon.
One of the first thing Paul touches upon in his letter to Titus are the qualifications necessary for an Elder in the Church. I am only going to touch on one part of it, because I think it is a part to which we pay too little attention when we debate this. Actually, it applies to all Church leaders. They must be people who like other people, who like to socialize. Church leaders should be people who enjoy hosting get-togethers in their own homes and elsewhere.<br>
Paul segues from discussing the qualifications of Church leaders to another teaching to which we tend to pay too little attention. Paul writes, “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.” Another way of expressing this is something my Dad told me. He told me to be cautious of people who constantly thought that others were cheating them. Such people thought they were being cheated because they were always looking for ways to cheat other people. On the other hand, people who are honest and trustworthy generally trust others. When Paul tells us that everything is pure to those who are pure, he is both telling us to modify our behavior and giving us advice on judging the merits of those who speak about others. Trust and rely on those for whom it is a struggle to say anything negative about others. Watch closely, and do not put much credence in the accusations they make, those who can give you a catalog of the flaws of others. Of course, that also means that we should strive to be the former and not the latter.<br>
By reading between the lines of this passage we can learn a few things. Onesimus was the slave of Philemon. Philemon was a leader of a congregation which met in his home. In addition, Philemon became a Christian as a direct result of Paul’s ministry. Onesimus ran away from his slavery to Philemon and ended up in Rome, where Paul was a prisoner. Onesimus heard the Gospel from Paul and also became a believer. For awhile he aided Paul. Eventually, Onesimus became convicted that he should return to Philemon to make good on his obligations to him, but he was afraid of how Philemon would treat him. Under Roman law, Philemon was entitled to punish Onesimus severely. I will mention that slavery as practiced in Rome was different than slavery as practiced in the pre-Civil War American South. <br>
Having written all of the above, I realized that the main point I want to make about Paul’s letter to Philemon has little to do with any of that. Paul writes to Philemon that Onesimus had indeed wronged him, but that was before Onesimus came to know the Lord. Now that Onesimus has come to know the Lord, he has been transformed. Philemon should forgive Onesimus the wrong he had done him, and Paul would reimburse Philemon for any cost Philemon had incurred because of Onesimus’ actions (with the suggestion that perhaps Philemon should just write them off). Here is the lesson for us: we should not judge believers by the actions they took before they were saved.
