Brother-Slave

ALL – Psalm 101:1-8
ALL – Proverbs 26:20
OT – Lamentations 1:1-2:19
NT – Philemon 1:1-25

Interesting passage for the day: Perhaps you could think of it this way: that he ran away from you for a little while so that now he can be yours forever, no longer only a slave, but something much better—a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, too, because he is not only a servant but also your brother in Christ. – Philemon 1:15-16, The Living Bible

Thought: Slave – noun – a human being whose primary purpose in life is to do the will of another human being known as master, and who can be treated in any way the master deems appropriate.

Brother – noun – a valued family member, ally, partner and friend who is loved and needed, and for whose sake you would put your own life on the line

Slave. Brother. Brother-slave. Words make such a difference in how we see one another.

When Paul wrote this letter to Philemon about his slave Onesimus, we can hope that Philemon was already being a good master to his slave, because he was a godly Christian who was apparently known for kindness. But in his mind, Onesimus’ identity was bound up in the word “slave”. Maybe “good slave.” Probably “bad slave.” Either way, “slave.”

But Paul wrote to tell Philemon that Onesimus had a new identity: “brother.” Legally, he was still Philemon’s slave. Slave was still his role. But his identity was now “brother.” And Paul was asking Philemon to treat Onesimus like the spiritual brother he had become.

Could you allow your brother to remain a slave? Especially to you? No wonder slavery was eventually abolished!

But we do the same thing with our labels. We look at those around us, even in the church, and we think of each other in ways that allow us to avoid expressing the love that Christ has created us to express.

Here are some possible labels we’ve used for those around us: “Legalist.” “Pleasure-seeker.” “Young.” “Old.” “Strange.” “Too friendly.” “Irresponsible.” “Stiff.” “Gossip.” “Withdrawn.” All of these words may be true of the people we’re describing, just as “slave” was true of Onesimus. But we can’t define anyone’s identity with these words when we’re looking at fellow-believers. Fellow-believers’ primary identities in our minds should always be “father,” “mother,” “brother,” “sister” (Philemon 1:16; compare 1 Timothy 5:1-2).

Question: Is there a fellow-believer that you just can’t get along with—perhaps don’t even want to get along with? What is your label for him or her? What identity should you be using for this person who has been redeemed by Christ with you? How might your attitude change? How might your choices and actions change?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Saved Heretics?

ALL – Psalm 38:1-22
ALL – Proverbs 21:28-29
OT – Job 8:1-11:20
NT – 1 Corinthians 15:1-28

Interesting passage for the day: But tell me this! Since you believe what we preach, that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying that dead people will never come back to life again? – 1 Corinthians 15:12, The Living Bible

Thought: Let’s get past the main point of this verse quickly, because there’s a related issue that I think we need to talk about a bit. The main point of this verse is that it is precisely because Christ rose from the dead that we can know that people rise from the dead—that we can have a legitimate hope of our own resurrections.

But what intrigues me about this verse was that Paul was writing these truths to Christians—Christians who didn’t believe in their own coming resurrection! He was correcting a falsehood that they were teaching. We would call that falsehood a heresy. And as he corrected it, he did so without making the assumption that these heretics were not Christians.

These heretics believed that Jesus had died for them and had risen from the dead—an orthodox teaching, the central teaching of Christianity and the core of the gospel. And yet they mistakenly denied the coming resurrection of anyone else.

We are right to focus on teaching the truth. Paul certainly took the time to correct falsehood. But I think that we often assume that people with serious false beliefs like the one mentioned here are unbelievers destined for hell. Perhaps we should continue to view them as brothers so long as their false beliefs do not compromise the heart of the gospel. I’m not saying that we should not worry about them or that we should leave them to keep believing and promoting lies (unknowingly, perhaps, but still lies). But perhaps we should not be so quick to view them as outsiders to our faith.

It would require discernment. As some point a refusal to accept the godly and plain truth of the Scriptures becomes a reason for concern and even discipline among those in the church. But this perspective is also a reason for hope. Christ’s grace is enough not only to cover our sins, but even some of our stupidities, misunderstandings, poor thinking and misguided stubbornness. We’ll probably see more Christian heretics in heaven than we expect.

Question: If not every false belief will keep a believer out of heaven (these Christians who didn’t believe in their resurrection would still experience it, for instance), how should we deal with the false beliefs we encounter among brothers and sisters?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.