Learning from Paul’s Letter to Philemon: useful vs useless
Today, we come to the main purpose of Paul’s letter to Philemon: Onesimus.
Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul – an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus – that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. Philemon 1:8-11
We’re introduced to Onesimus in this paragraph, although we don’t know anything about him. It’s only later that we find out that he had previously been a slave in Philemon’s household. That can seem confusing in itself, for how can the good and loving man we learnt about yesterday keep slaves? This letter was written in a context in which keeping household slaves was the way of the world. Everyone did it. We find that abhorrent and it is abhorrent that Christians over the years have used Paul’s seeming acceptance of slavery as a justification of modern day slavery. However, Paul was teaching into the society as it was then and if you study Paul’s teaching, you find many examples where he is trying to move things forward and repeats over and over our equal standing before God as unique human beings all created in His image.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
Paul could pull rank here with Philemon, because in terms of spirituality, he is the leader, the one with authority. He could tell Philemon what to do and expect him to do it. But that’s not the way good leaders work, is it? Good leaders do not command people to obey them out of a sense of duty; they share a vision of how things could be so that others want to do what they’re asking. It all comes down to love. It always comes down to love. What he’s about to ask of Philemon is a big deal. Philemon has to understand that it is because of love that Paul is making this request.
This is what love would look like in action. Are you ready to show this kind of love in action, Philemon?
We know that Onesimus is not Paul’s literal son. Throughout his letters, Paul often refers to the church as a family, a spiritual family. He addresses his letters to his brothers and sisters in Christ. He has come to know Onesimus as his son in Christ. You may have people like that in your world: people you regard as your spiritual mothers and fathers who’ve supported you with their guidance and wisdom along the way or others you regard as your spiritual sons and daughters, those you look out for and lead in the Way of Christ. It’s nothing to do with physical age in the end. It’s about spiritual experience and maturity. We need to embrace this role in making disciples.
One last thought: useless and useful. This may seem pretty harsh, but actually it’s a play on words because Onesimus means ‘useful’. It hints at a transformation that’s occurred in Onesimus’ life. Maybe he wasn’t the best slave out there, but something has happened and now he has stepped up into his name and become the man he was born to be. This spiritual transformation within Onesimus has translated into a change of attitude and behaviour. We only fulfil our unique role within the world when we allow ourselves to be transformed from the inside out. We were each created for a specific role, a role no one else ever living can play. Living life to the full as a follower of Jesus is about discovering that role and being the person God always intended us to be. That’s the adventure.
That word ‘useful’ is not a helpful one for me. It implies duty and obligation and proving something. But being the person I was created to be: now that I can live with. That is my destiny.
