This Can’t Be The Same Guy
By Matt Yamamoto, Director of High School Ministry
“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—” (Philemon 1:8-9)
When we first come across Paul, he was “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” At that point in his life, he was the Jewish Captain America. He was well-liked, learned, an up-and-comer in his profession, in the top echelon of Jewish society. If he were alive today, he’d be a young trader in the New York stock exchange, polished, confident, and well put together.
When faced with something he was opposed to, in this case, the believers, young Paul’s solution was to throw them all in jail. Let’s stop and think about that for a second. It’s not even that he wanted to throw the Christians on his street in prison, he was so opposed to them that he traveled from city to city to lock them up.
That Paul is a far cry from the Paul we encounter in the passage above. If the two Pauls were to stand side by side, they would be unrecognizable as the same man. It’s no wonder that God gave him a new name.
How did he go from being the hammer pounding down nails to one making an appeal on the basis of love?
Spiritual transformation.
In the eyes of the world, God ruined Paul. God loved Paul too much to allow him to remain THAT guy. God loved him so much that He stopped Paul in his tracks, literally.
Paul went from someone that the world approved of to someone that God approved of. This is the whole point of our lives and the cross. Salvation is not the end product that God had in mind when He died for us. It was only the beginning. Transformation was and is the goal.
If you were to die today, what would your story be? Whose approval have you won? Would you be unrecognizable if you were standing next to your younger self, worthy of a new name?
Jesus loves you so much that He doesn’t want you to remain THAT guy, but like Paul, you have to be a willing participant in the journey. How is God trying to shape you and transform you today?
Prayer: Dear loving and patient Father, thank You for what You did on the cross and its gift of not just salvation but more importantly, a relationship with You. Thank You for loving us so much that You want us to grow. Help us to understand the beauty of spiritual transformation and walk along that journey with You. Amen.
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