A previous article considered tithing, which was a prominent part of Israelite religion but also antedated the Law of Moses, and a second article was promised about the Sabbath, which also was and is an identifying mark of Judaism but which also antedated the Law of Moses. The word Sabbath in both English and Greek is a transliteration of the Hebrew word, sabbat, from a root meaning “to cease,” or “to desist.” According to the Fourth Commandment in the Decalogue (Exodus 20:8-11), on the seventh day of the week the Israelites were to keep the Sabbath holy by desisting from their work.
But this was not the first reference to observing the seventh day of the week in this way. Shortly before the Ten Commandments were given on Sinai, when the Lord gave the Israelites manna to eat during their time in the wilderness, they were told to gather each day enough manna for that day, but on the sixth day to gather twice as much, for there would be none available on the seventh day. As Moses explained to them, that day was “a Sabbath to the Lord,” so they would not find on that day any manna in the field. “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none” (Exodus 16:25-26). This entire incident reads as though desisting from work on the seventh day was not a strange concept to the people and that there may have been other times when they rested on that day. Whatever the case, this example with the manna antedated the giving of the law on Sinai.
When rest from labour was ordained in the Ten Commandments it was stated clearly that after God had completed his work of creation in six days he rested on the seventh and for this reason he blessed it and made it holy. This is why his people were to remember it and to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-11). What God was teaching them about Sabbath observance is further spelled out in Exodus 31:12-17, where God told them that keeping the Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel “that you may know that I, the Lord sanctify you” (make you holy). It was also a sign reminding them that “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” For the day to be made holy meant that it was observed as a special day, different from other days. The only requirements specified for keeping it holy was to remember what the day was all about and to refrain from all work. It is important to note that, as originally given, there was no requirement to worship because it was the Sabbath. It was much later that synagogue service became part of observance.
How Christians have looked at the Sabbath has varied through the centuries. Because the Sabbath commandment is in the Decalogue, this has seemed to many to give it special importance. Some, like Seventh Day Adventists, have set it apart as the Christian day of worship. Much more common has been the practice of many churches to make Sunday the Christian Sabbath. Apparently in New Testament times some made observance of the Sabbath and other Jewish practices a requirement of Christians, for Paul told the Colossian Christians not to let anyone judge them “in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath” (Colossians 2:16-17). He said that these Jewish ordinances were “a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
However, the apostle did not have a problem with those who observed special days as a matter between them and the Lord. In a warning against quarrelling over opinions, he recognized that “one person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honour of the Lord” (Romans 14:5-6). It is not difficult to imagine that at that time some converts from Judaism personally observed the Sabbath. The principles Paul sets forth here are equally applicable to differing views about whether to observe religious holidays like Christmas or Easter and, if so, how.
It would be going too far, then, to make Sabbath observance a requirement for Christians. There is no indication that the New Testament ever does this. But there is a recognition that the Jewish Sabbath foreshadowed something far greater than refraining from work on the seventh day. The writer of Hebrews, in an exposition of the 95th Psalm, speaks of a place of rest provided by God which some could not enter because of disobedience. But, as he says, the psalmist affirmed that this rest is still available and thus “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” and Christians should “strive to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:1-11). Clearly, that rest is eternal salvation, aptly referred to in Revelation 14:13 as the time and place where those who “die in the Lord” are blessed by being able to “rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them.’”
Thus, for Christians, scriptural teaching about the Sabbath takes on richer meaning. To Israel, the special day looked back to God resting after fully completing his creative activity, and so, as a sign that they were his people, they rested one day a week from labour that was often hard and futile because of the curse of sin. To the Christian, the Sabbath that remains for us not only looks back to the cessation of God’s original creative activity; it also looks forward to God’s new creation, where his people enjoy not merely a temporary rest but one that is complete and eternal.
But this does not exhaust what we can learn about Sabbath teaching. As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Pharisees of Jesus’ time had it backwards and made the Sabbath an onerous burden for God’s people, with all kinds of rules about what people could do and could not do on that day. Originally, the Sabbath was designed to free people from work one day a week. We all need a time of rest, for the curse of sin (Genesis 3:17-19) has not only made much of our work toilsome (“by the sweat of your face”) but often futile (“thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you”). Thus, for all of us, rest is important. Jesus himself recognized that people cannot work all the time. After his apostles returned from a preaching mission and when so many were coming and going that they could not even find time for a leisurely meal, Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:30-31).
But not only did the original Sabbath law remind people that rest is needed for refreshment and renewal; it also is was a reminder that there is more to life than constantly toiling whether out of necessity or from an incessant desire to have more. In our culture there are few days when stores and factories are closed, but when they are it is a welcome reminder that it is good to have a time when we are not consumed with making money or spending it.
The Sabbath law was also a reminder that time, like all else we think we have, belongs ultimately to God. Just as the tithe, because it was holy, was the Lord’s (Leviticus 27:30), so the seventh day, because it was holy, was also his. For Christians, who have no one holy day, every day is holy and should be used in a way that honours God. Paul, said, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Finally, both the Jewish Sabbath and the Sabbath that awaits us in eternity are patterned after God’s example. He not only rested after he completed his creative work; he also had the satisfaction of knowing that all that he did in creation was good. While we will often have to rest in the midst of our labours, the most satisfying rest comes after we have fully completed our work, especially if what we do has been done well. We enjoy a foretaste of this satisfaction when we complete some difficult and vital task in this life, but it will be far grander when we are prepared to hear from our Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
Thus, even though we are not subject to the same kind of Sabbath law as were the Jews, there is much to learn from this day of rest as we live for God and as we look forward to eternity, to the full realization of the rest God has in store for us.
(All Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version)
Burlington, ON
Lately I have given more thought to two biblical ordinances that in our own tradition have been largely dismissed as relics of Judaism – tithing and the Sabbath. To be sure, they were important ordinances under the Mosaic law, but both antedate that law and they both involve underlying principles that can be very instructive to Christians. This article is concerned with the first, and an intended article will deal with the second. By way of definition, tithing is giving away ten percent of one’s income for God’s causes and not some lesser amount that some identify as their tithe.
Prior to Moses and the law that God gave to Israel through him, tithing is mentioned twice in Scripture. The first is in Genesis 14:18-20, when Abraham, after helping win a war and rescuing his nephew Lot, gave Melchizedek, “priest of God Most High,” a tenth of everything (apparently the spoils of war). The text implies that he did this in response to the blessing from God that Melchizedek pronounced upon him.
The other reference to tithing, prior to Moses’ law, is in Genesis 28:20-22. When Jacob was on his journey to find a wife among his mother’s extended family, he camped one night at Bethel, and God in a dream reiterated his earlier promise to Jacob’s grandfather of the land of Canaan and through him a blessing to all the families of the earth. He also promised Jacob safety on his journey as well as a safe return. Jacob’s response seems transactional and self-serving: “If God” does these things, “then the Lord shall be my God . . . and of all that you give me I will gave a full tenth to you” (28:20-22). But perhaps we should understand Jacob promising that since God was doing this that Jacob would give him a full tenth.
Although we have but these two examples of tithing during that early period, some think these cases are indicative of a widespread practice of tithing (giving God a tenth). One of the reasons for this would seem to be a grateful and significant response to God for his much greater blessings.
When we turn to the law of Moses, that which earlier was an implied response to God becomes explicit: “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. . . . And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff shall be holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30-32).
Tithes in Israel were given to the Levites for serving in the tabernacle (Numbers 18:21-24), and the Levites in turn were to give a “tithe of the tithe” to Aaron the priest (18:25-30). Tithes were taken to Jerusalem every first and second year, but in the third year they were retained in their various towns and shared with Levites, sojourners, the fatherless, and widows in each town so that they could eat and be filled (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).
In addition to the prescribed tithe, there were various other offerings that Israelites at times made to God, including some that were called “freewill offerings,” made voluntarily in addition to what was prescribed, so the tithe was only a portion of what they gave. According to the prophet Malachi, it was robbing God not to give the full statutory tithes and contributions since they actually belonged to God (Malachi 3:6-12).
Jesus had little to say about tithes but much otherwise about the use of money. About tithes he condemned abuses. He criticized those under Moses’ law who were careful to tithe small things (like mint, dill, and cumin) but then neglected virtues that were much more important (like justice, mercy and faithfulness) . Their fault was not their scrupulous tithing (“these you ought to have done”) but their neglect of what was far more important (Matthew 23:23). In a parable he rebuked those who were self-righteous, trusting in good deeds like fasting and tithing (Luke 18:10-12). He very likely had tithes partly in mind when he condemned those who failed to help their father and mother because what they would have given them was “Corban” (a word meaning sacrifice), which is explained by Mark as something “given to God” (Mark 7:9-13).
Tithing is not mentioned in the New Testament as a command for Christians to practice. Despite this, many churches and church leaders have urged tithing on the church by their members – assuming that this is a command of God and also assuming that all that the members tithe is for the church. There are many good causes that Christians may want to support, including some that are obligatory. A biblical example of this is the instruction to believing women who have relatives that are widows: “Let her care for them” rather than letting the church be burdened (1 Timothy 5:16).
Now that we have surveyed biblical teaching about the tithing prescribed for the Israelites we need to answer the question raised in the title to this article, “What Can Christians Learn from Tithing?” At the head of the list is the realization that what we give is the Lord’s and is holy. The root idea of holiness is separation, and the Israelites were taught that the tithe, as holy, was set apart for the Lord and belongs to him. As Malachi said, not to give it was robbing God of what was rightfully his. While Christians have not been told an exact amount to give, they are to give something of what God has given to them, and it is important to realize that what they have decided to give is holy and in a special way belongs to him. They are told that this is part of their worship and that they should not neglect to “do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:15-16).
We can also learn from what each Israelite was commanded to give that it was a significant amount of what he had. Although our giving is free will (“as one has decided in his heart”) and should not be done reluctantly, for “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7), it should, in its totality, represent a significant part of what we have. We need to realize the principle that “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” If we really believe this we will decide accordingly (9:6-7). This is not a “prosperity gospel,” like some preach today, for the promise is not that God will make us rich if we give generously, but that we will be enabled to be generous in meeting still more needs in the future (9:10-11).
Another important lesson is that, while the tithe made giving proportional to what each person had, it did not limit giving to that amount. Similarly, when Paul asked Christians to give, he said that “it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12-15). He also commended those who despite poverty gave beyond their means, of their own accord, because “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us” (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Sometimes a need is so great that some will give more than any of us would ask of them. In the early days of the Jerusalem church, some, like Barnabas, sold lands and houses to help those in need (Acts 4:34-37).
Another important lesson from the tithe under Moses’ law is that much of it provided for the poor, like the fatherless and widows, those leading in the Lord’s work, like the Levites, and those who were immigrants or refugees (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). References to Christian giving in Acts and the letters, say more about giving for this reason than for any other. Concern for the poor and support for those giving much of their time to doing the Lord’s work should motivate much of our giving.
Finally, though tithing is not commanded as such for Christians, it has helped many, especially early in their Christian lives, to learn how to give. Very early it seemed reasonable to me that if God wanted the Israelites to give a tenth, surely even more would be appropriate for a Christian, living under a much more glorious covenant. For many this can be a beginning step until they learn more fully the joy of generosity and what Jesus meant when he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Paul ended his discourse on giving in 2 Corinthians and the blessings of generosity by exclaiming, in 9:35, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”
Burlington ON
(All Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version.)
The Wisdom of Jesus As Displayed in His Parables
Jesus Christ is universally recognized as a master teacher. A conspicuous part of his methodology was his use of stories, which we, like the gospel writers, often call parables, from the Greek parabolē, “placed alongside.” Usually the parables of Jesus are stories from everyday life that ordinarily illustrate a single moral or spiritual truth, as in the Persistent Widow, which Luke tells us was “to the effect that they should always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1–8). However, the parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates three truths: (1) God’s great love, (2) genuine repentance, and (3) heaven’s joy when sinners repent (Luke 15:11–32).
Many speakers and writers use stories to hold attention and to get their point across, so Jesus was not an unusual teacher for that reason. What, then, made his stories extraordinary?
1. Some of his stories, such as the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), and the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21–35), are outstanding literature, both because of their eloquent relevance to the subject matter and the arresting way they tell their story.
2. Many have broad appeal across generational, cultural and educational lines. The story of the Good Samaritan, for example, can be usefully grasped by preschoolers, and yet there are far deeper truths that challenge mature adults.
3. Jesus drove home his point in varying ways, depending on his listeners. In the brief story of the Two Builders (Matthew 7:24–27) at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, he trusted his hearers to make the right application. In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus ended with a question and left it to his hearer to make the point. At the end of the story of the Prodigal Son Jesus did not tell whether the older brother went to the party, leaving it to his hearers to make the appropriate application.
4. Jesus’ stories, even today, are not easily forgotten and challenge us to revise our thinking, as in the parable of the Rich Farmer (Luke 12:13–21) who left God out of his plans and died unable to enjoy what he had saved for his retirement.
5. While his stories are entertaining when we read or hear them, far more importantly they contain significant spiritual and ethical teachings. Consider, for example, the parable of the Shrewd Manager about the use of money (Luke 16:1–13) or that of the Seed and the Sower (Matthew 13:1–9) about the varying responses of those who hear God’s word.
Jesus’ wisdom is evidenced in these stories by what he chose to tell, his skill in telling it, and the story’s relevance to the occasion. Anyone who writes a teaching article, or preaches a sermon, or talks to another person about spiritual change not only should want to speak the truth appropriate to the occasion but should also want to say it in a way that helps hearers accept it, even when it is not what they want to hear. An important part of wisdom is speech that is “gracious, seasoned with salt,” knowing how to answer each person (Colossians 4:5–6).
But Jesus’ wisdom is evidenced even more by what he taught with parables, whether in response to someone’s question or problem, or when training the Twelve for their work after he left, or when confronting his adversaries. His skill in using stories to answer questions is especially well-illustrated by his response to a lawyer who wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:30–37). Rather than telling him what to do, Jesus asked him what the law said. The lawyer rightly quoted the two greatest commandments, and Jesus told him that if he kept them he would live. The lawyer recognized that to really do this is not easy, so he tried to justify him own failure by asking, “Who is my neighbour?” Although Jesus was fully able to answer this in a few words, he instead told about a Samaritan who helped a half-dead man left at the side of the road by robbers. Jesus turned the question from who is my neighbour to who proved to be a neighbour. At the end of the story the lawyer answered his own question.
Jesus used parables to train his own disciples. At least three times Peter asked questions that Jesus answered this way. One time, after his story about Watchful Servants (Luke 12:35–40), Peter asked, “Is this parable for us or for all?” Jesus asked another question implying that the parable was for anyone faithful and wise enough that his master will set him over his household. “Blessed is that servant” (Luke 12:41–48).
Another time Peter asked, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus’ short answer was not seven times but seventy times seven. His full answer was the story of the Unforgiving Servant, reminding Peter of how much he had been forgiven and his continuing need to forgive others “from your heart” (Matthew 18:23–35).
On a third occasion, after a rich young ruler left in sorrow when Jesus told him he should sell his possessions and follow him, Peter said, “We have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus’ immediate reply was that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:27–30). His fuller answer, addressing Peter’s attitude, is found in the story of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1–16), where those who worked as little as an hour, trusting the owner’s word that “whatever is right I will pay you,” received as much as those who worked a full twelve hours after bargaining for their wages.
It is likely that the Twelve were all present when Jesus responded to Peter’s questions. Training them was not merely a matter of teaching them some facts; to be Jesus’ apostles they had to undergo a paradigm change, for their understanding of the Messiah’s kingship and kingdom was utterly different from what Jesus came to be and to do. One of the ways that Jesus changed their understanding was with parables. Seven of these kingdom parables are found in Matthew 13, with an additional one in the parallel passage in Mark 4:26-–29. These parables he spoke, not for the benefit of the masses, but, as he told the Twelve, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to those outside it has not been given (Mark 4:10–12). Two of these parables – that of the Sower and that of the Weeds and the Wheat – he explained in detail so that his disciples would know how to interpret the others (Matthew 13:1–9; 18–23; 24–30; 36–43).
Jesus also used parables to tell his apostles that he would be going away but would return later. During the interim they needed to be faithful and wise (Matthew 24:43–47). He illustrates wisdom with the story of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and faithfulness with that of the Talents (Matthew 25:14–30). Luke records a parable similar to that of the Talents (Luke 19:11–27), but apparently to a wider audience, to disabuse those who thought the kingdom was coming immediately and to warn those who rejected his kingship.
The latter reminds us that Jesus sometimes used parables to interact with his opponents. Early in his ministry, his Pharisee dinner host thought Jesus should not have allowed a woman who was a “sinner” wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. Jesus told about Two Debtors, one of whom was forgiven a large debt and the other a small one. Jesus then asked who loved the most. When the Pharisee answered that it was the one forgiven the most, Jesus made a telling comparison between the way in which Simon and the woman had each shown their love for him and then told the woman that her sins were forgiven (Luke 7:36–50).
Later his interactions with the Pharisees and other opponents became more confrontational, as when they openly criticized him for receiving “sinners” and eating with them. Jesus responded with stories of a Lost Sheep, a Lost Coin, and a Prodigal Son to tell about the joy in heaven when even one sinner repents (Luke 15).
During the final week of his ministry, when he knew his opponents were determined to kill him, he issued a final warning with his story of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–18.) There was no need for Jesus to explain the parable, for as both Matthew and Luke tell us, they perceived that the parable was against them.
Parables, then, were a very important part of Jesus’ teaching style. Sometimes they were used to help his hearers understand better, other times they were designed to keep at least some of his listeners from grasping what he was saying. Either way, they demonstrated his wisdom, not only in the truths being taught but also in knowing who were prepared to receive them and be benefited by them and who were unreceptive and needed to be warned. They have worn well, and 2000 years later we still marvel at them and at the Great Teacher who told them.
Burlington, Ontario
Philemon, the Christian to whom Paul’s letter by this name was written, was a slave master. If we knew of any Christian today who held slaves, we would be deeply concerned about his spiritual condition. Yet Paul calls him “our beloved fellow worker” and thanked God continually for Philemon’s love toward Jesus for all the saints. Beyond this Paul had personally “derived much joy and comfort” from his love “because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (verses 1–7, ESV).
How do we square this with what I am confident everyone who reads this article believes about the propriety of human slavery? What does this say about how we read the Bible in general and the New Testament in particular?
No doubt we would agree with Abraham Lincoln, who said, “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”
Yet the New Testament does not directly condemn Christian slave owners. At the same time, biblical teaching has done much throughout the centuries to end slavery in the world. How does the New Testament deal with the practice in the first century and what are the implications showing it is wrong today?
First of all, Jesus taught that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbour as our self, lesser only than the command to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Mt. 22:34–40). In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:25–37), told by Jesus in direct response to the question about the identity of one’s neighbour, Jesus clearly taught that our neighbour is anyone we have the opportunity to help. None of us would personally want to lose our freedom and be a slave. How then could a person be a slaveholder and fulfill the command to love his slave as he loves himself?
In another way the Bible makes it clear that it is not God’s intent that there be slaveholding by any in the kingdom: Paul wrote, “…in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God…. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26–28). Given their prevalence in the Roman world, slaves undoubtedly made up a significant percentage of Christians. Paul’s words meant that these slaves should be treated every bit as well as freedmen. But it is also implied that the very existence of slaves and slave masters is short of the ideal.
Thus, by both command and principle, the Bible condemns slavery. But sometimes it is difficult, for varying reasons, to turn the ideal into reality. Sometimes even God has shown great patience, or at least forbearance, in establishing the ideal. After Jesus affirmed the permanency of marriage, some asked him why Moses allowed divorce, he said, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so (Mt. 19:3–9). Moses, speaking as God’s prophet and lawgiver, allowed something less than the ideal.
There is a similarity in Paul’ teaching to the Corinthians about marriage and divorce. After referring to the Lord’s command not to separate from one’s spouse, Paul says that if a person does, “she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband” (1 Cor. 7:10–11). Paul cites the ideal but then, knowing that some would separate, gives the next best thing to do under the circumstances.
Earlier, in the same letter, Paul rebukes Christians for lawsuits in civil courts headed by unbelievers. The ideal is not to have such differences at all, for it would be better to suffer wrong or be defrauded. But short of the ideal, they should seek the help of some wise fellow Christian to reach a settlement rather than taking their disputes before unbelievers (1 Cor. 6:1-8). Sometimes there is a difference between the ideal and what is practicable under the circumstances.
All this can help us better understand the approach in the New Testament to the practice of slavery. In the Roman world slavery was both widespread and systemic. While it is impossible to know exactly how many slaves there were in the Roman Empire, it is estimated that as much as 30 percent of the populace was enslaved, some by birth, some by capture in war, some sold into slavery because of debt, and some for other reasons. Much of the economy was based on slavery, and it would have been nearly impossible to live in the empire and not to have at least indirectly abetted the practice of slavery. Christians were not in a position then to successfully oppose it, for they were a new religious group with relatively few members with influence in their own communities, to say nothing of their influence in the empire as a whole. As Paul said about the Corinthian Christians, “…not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many of you were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (1 Cor. 1:26).
What could Christians do under the circumstances?
First, they could recognize that their relation to Christ was more important than whether they were slave or free. Paul wrote, “Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men” (1 Cor. 7:21-23).
Secondly, there were things Christians could do to ameliorate the conditions of slavery. Paul took this approach when he addressed Christian masters, telling them not to threaten (Eph. 6:9) but to treat their slaves justly and fairly, knowing that they have a Master in heaven (Col. 4:1).
Next, Christians were reminded that their primary opportunity and responsibility was to see that what was right was done in the church, regardless of what the world around them did. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians about disassociating themselves from those who were sexually immoral, or greedy, or swindlers, or idolaters, he said that he had in mind fellow Christians, not people of the world, “for what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside” (1 Cor. 5:9–12).
Finally, and this brings us back to the short letter to Philemon, where the latter was urged to attain to the ideal, not merely in response to a command, but for the best reason – from the heart. Paul was writing in behalf of a runaway slave named Onesimus (a name that means “useful”) who had apparently come into contact with the apostle while he was in prison and was converted by Paul. Paul would have liked keeping Onesimus with him to serve him in prison. Sending him back was like “sending my very heart” (12), but it was the right thing to do.
Paul said that he could have commanded Philemon to do “what is required” (a reference to giving Onesimus his freedom), but that he preferred making an appeal to Philemon (8-9). He wanted Philemon to do what was right not “by compulsion but of your own accord” (14). That Paul had the emancipation of Onesimus in mind is evidenced by his hope that Philemon would take Onesimus back, “no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother…both in the flesh and in the Lord” (14–16).
What Paul asked for was the ideal. And he wanted Philemon not only to do the right thing but to do it for the right reason. Doing the right thing for the right reason is a very important lesson from the letter. But, as we have also tried to show, it is a letter that helps us in our interpretation of the New Testament. As people who historically have wanted to restore New Testament Christianity, we have sought to discover the ideal and to the extent possible to put this into practice. But the New Testament also speaks to problems sometimes encountered then in attaining the ideal and how they faced up to this difficulty by doing the best they could under the circumstances.
Burlington, Ontario
