The Self-Drawn Portrait of the Apostle Paul. (7)
Posted by Marvin Pagkanlungan on Saturday, May 31, 2014
by Charles H. Welch
#7. Separate Features: Dread of Officious Interference.
“Here we see . . . . . that dread of officious interference which led him to shrink from ‘building on another man’s foundation’, that delicacy which shows itself in his appeal to Philemon, whom he might have commanded, ‘yet for love’s sake rather beseeching him, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ’, and which is even more striking in some of his farewell greetings, as for instance when he bids the Romans ‘Salute Rufus, and his mother, who is also mine’.” (Conybeare and Howson).
Paul’s dread of officious interference is but the other side of the delicacy of his nature, and just as in the features of the face, it is scarcely possible to describe but one, and not both, eyes, so we have found it difficult to speak of one side of the Apostle’s nature without the other.
Shakespeare speaks of:
“Man, proud man,
Drest in a little, brief, authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assured.”
and more or less most of us have suffered at the hands of officialdom. Who among us thinks kindly of “red-tape”, or who could associate such a term with the Apostle Paul? The generosity which marked him we considered in our last article. It enable him to be made all things to all men, and rendered him alike intolerant of officiousness, red-tape and the narrow rut of smaller minds.
He was an apostle, not one whit behind the chiefest of the apostles, yet, so far was he removed from the “official” in his high office, that he laboured with his hands, and refused Corinthian gold. The Apostle “magnified his office” without magnifying himself. His sensitiveness and delicacy, and his lack of official interference comes out very prominently when he is dealing with the financial affairs of the churches. Writing to the Corinthians concerning the much-desired collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, the Apostle said:
“I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love” (II Cor. viii. 8).
A perfectly free hand was given to the Corinthian church in choosing those who should go with the Apostle to Jerusalem:
“And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me” (I Cor. xvi. 3, 4).
Here we see the Apostle practicing what he preached, “providing things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. xii. 17).
“Provide for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (II Cor. viii. 21).
Oftentimes a curious mentality is displayed by believers in connection with Christian financial matters. Some very much resent giving a receipt, others refuse an audit, but what to such appears most officious, would to the Apostle appear to be nothing but what is decent, and so it seems to us.
The Apostle not only refrained from officiousness in financial affairs, but even in matters of faith and practice, where one might have expected the full exercise of authority, even there we discern the true inward greatness of this man of God.
“Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy” (II Cor. i. 24).
“Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man” (I Cor. iii. 5).
The salutations of Paul at the close of his epistles reveal much as to the Apostle’s character. He forgets none: He mentions all by name. He gives wherever possible some characteristic epithet; where he cannot praise he says nothing. Greetings are sent to Priscilla and Aquila, with a warm recollection of their love for him that puts the whole church in their debt (Rom. xvi. 3, 4). Epænetus is called “well beloved” and is “firstfruits of Achaia in Christ” (Rom. xvi. 5). So, too, “Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us”.
The Apostle is always more reserved in his references to sisters in Christ. No endearing term is used in this letter when he greets this sister in the Lord. This does not indicate that she was not as “well beloved” as Epænetus, but in the case of sisters the Apostle does not use such terms publicly. So we go down the list in this closing chapter. Persis is a woman’s name, and the Apostle has circumvented the difficulty by saying, “Salute the beloved Persis”, not “my beloved”, so rendering the epithet less personal.
In Col. iv. the Apostle mentions a number of those who had helped him in the ministry. Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus are named, with many an endearing remark. Special consideration is given to Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas (Col. iv. 10), as though the Apostle would remove the memory of the dissension that arose over him in the early days of his ministry. Jesus, Justus, Epaphras and Luke (Col. iv. 11-14) all receive some commendation. This only makes the words, “and Demas”, stand out the more from the rest. It is evident that Paul’s delicacy of feeling, his sensitiveness to the slights made upon him by others, would, had it been possible, have prevented any omission of favourable remark in the case of Demas. Clearly the defection of Demas, which he sorrowfully records as a fact in II Tim. iv. 10, already manifested itself to the Apostle’s discerning eye. He could say nothing good of Demas, but he would say nothing ill—all he could say, and did say, was, “and Demas”. In this he followed the Lord, who endured the presence of Judas without ever hinting to the rest of the disciples a word as to his true character.
Fervid patriotism, hot indignation, fearless independence, delicate sensitiveness, these are some of the elements that went to make up the personality of the Apostle to the Gentiles.
----------------------
(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 33, page 138).
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#7. Separate Features: Dread of Officious Interference.
“Here we see . . . . . that dread of officious interference which led him to shrink from ‘building on another man’s foundation’, that delicacy which shows itself in his appeal to Philemon, whom he might have commanded, ‘yet for love’s sake rather beseeching him, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ’, and which is even more striking in some of his farewell greetings, as for instance when he bids the Romans ‘Salute Rufus, and his mother, who is also mine’.” (Conybeare and Howson).
Paul’s dread of officious interference is but the other side of the delicacy of his nature, and just as in the features of the face, it is scarcely possible to describe but one, and not both, eyes, so we have found it difficult to speak of one side of the Apostle’s nature without the other.
Shakespeare speaks of:
“Man, proud man,
Drest in a little, brief, authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assured.”
and more or less most of us have suffered at the hands of officialdom. Who among us thinks kindly of “red-tape”, or who could associate such a term with the Apostle Paul? The generosity which marked him we considered in our last article. It enable him to be made all things to all men, and rendered him alike intolerant of officiousness, red-tape and the narrow rut of smaller minds.
He was an apostle, not one whit behind the chiefest of the apostles, yet, so far was he removed from the “official” in his high office, that he laboured with his hands, and refused Corinthian gold. The Apostle “magnified his office” without magnifying himself. His sensitiveness and delicacy, and his lack of official interference comes out very prominently when he is dealing with the financial affairs of the churches. Writing to the Corinthians concerning the much-desired collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, the Apostle said:
“I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love” (II Cor. viii. 8).
A perfectly free hand was given to the Corinthian church in choosing those who should go with the Apostle to Jerusalem:
“And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me” (I Cor. xvi. 3, 4).
Here we see the Apostle practicing what he preached, “providing things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. xii. 17).
“Provide for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (II Cor. viii. 21).
Oftentimes a curious mentality is displayed by believers in connection with Christian financial matters. Some very much resent giving a receipt, others refuse an audit, but what to such appears most officious, would to the Apostle appear to be nothing but what is decent, and so it seems to us.
The Apostle not only refrained from officiousness in financial affairs, but even in matters of faith and practice, where one might have expected the full exercise of authority, even there we discern the true inward greatness of this man of God.
“Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy” (II Cor. i. 24).
“Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man” (I Cor. iii. 5).
The salutations of Paul at the close of his epistles reveal much as to the Apostle’s character. He forgets none: He mentions all by name. He gives wherever possible some characteristic epithet; where he cannot praise he says nothing. Greetings are sent to Priscilla and Aquila, with a warm recollection of their love for him that puts the whole church in their debt (Rom. xvi. 3, 4). Epænetus is called “well beloved” and is “firstfruits of Achaia in Christ” (Rom. xvi. 5). So, too, “Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us”.
The Apostle is always more reserved in his references to sisters in Christ. No endearing term is used in this letter when he greets this sister in the Lord. This does not indicate that she was not as “well beloved” as Epænetus, but in the case of sisters the Apostle does not use such terms publicly. So we go down the list in this closing chapter. Persis is a woman’s name, and the Apostle has circumvented the difficulty by saying, “Salute the beloved Persis”, not “my beloved”, so rendering the epithet less personal.
In Col. iv. the Apostle mentions a number of those who had helped him in the ministry. Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus are named, with many an endearing remark. Special consideration is given to Marcus, sister’s son to Barnabas (Col. iv. 10), as though the Apostle would remove the memory of the dissension that arose over him in the early days of his ministry. Jesus, Justus, Epaphras and Luke (Col. iv. 11-14) all receive some commendation. This only makes the words, “and Demas”, stand out the more from the rest. It is evident that Paul’s delicacy of feeling, his sensitiveness to the slights made upon him by others, would, had it been possible, have prevented any omission of favourable remark in the case of Demas. Clearly the defection of Demas, which he sorrowfully records as a fact in II Tim. iv. 10, already manifested itself to the Apostle’s discerning eye. He could say nothing good of Demas, but he would say nothing ill—all he could say, and did say, was, “and Demas”. In this he followed the Lord, who endured the presence of Judas without ever hinting to the rest of the disciples a word as to his true character.
Fervid patriotism, hot indignation, fearless independence, delicate sensitiveness, these are some of the elements that went to make up the personality of the Apostle to the Gentiles.
----------------------
(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 33, page 138).
-----------------------
