Paul

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— (Romans 1:1) 

          Paul, a servant…. In the story I’m writing, one of the characters is a servant. At one point, he tries to explain to the heroine that he is a servant. He can only make up his own mind in matters within the parameters set by his master. Most of us don’t think we have servants so we don’t tend to think about this. We have devices. I don’t imagine many of us would be pleased if our computers started making purchases, or our cars taking trips. Neither do we appreciate it when someone we hired to do something does something without our permission or starts adding charges for things we didn’t approve. 

         The idea isn’t entirely foreign to us. We complain bitterly when the person our city, county, state or country elects doesn’t do what we think they should. But somehow, when it comes to God and his servants, we forget. There are people who don’t some of the things that Paul writes. They feel free to disregard the things they don’t like because – after all, Paul wrote them. They didn’t come from God. He was writing what he wanted to write. 

          But now we have this claim. Was Paul a servant of Christ Jesus, or wasn’t he? Dare we suggest that in “this half of this sentence” he was, and in “that half of the sentence” he was not? I don’t believe we do. Either we must accept the whole, or reject the whole. Further, I believe that the decision must not be based on anything other than his agreement or disagreement with what Scripture has taught from Genesis through Revelation. The Word of God is understood in the light of the Word of God not in the light of our culture. 

         And if we, likewise, are servants of Christ Jesus, then we, likewise, should speak what He has taught us, and not take it upon ourselves to improve on what He has taught.