Insperity recently sponsored the Houston Sports Awards. I didn’t make it into the Houston sports hall of fame but I did get interviewed as a sponsor. 🙂

Let’s get personal 

Philemon 

Philemon is a personal letter from the apostle Paul written toward the end of his life while in prison in Rome. It was delivered, by a co-worker of Paul, Tychicus, to the city of Colossae, along with the book of Colossians. Philemon was a prominent member of the church Paul had established in Colossae. Colossians was written to the church and is filled with rich and deep doctrinal truth.  

Philemon was an open letter written to an individual about a personal issue. From a quick reading of Philemon, the themes appear to be the amazing life-transformation power of the saving grace of salvation and consequently, how salvation effects personal restoration and forgiveness. Should a sinner who has personally wronged someone, get a free pass of forgiveness because they became a Christian???

Philemon also gives insight into the early church’s relationship with slavery. Hmmm, this should be interesting to explore deeper. 

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother; to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” verses 1-3.  

This personal letter was written to Philemon, his wife and son. But also, it was an open letter that was to read by the entire church as well. This is quite different from churches in America today. In today’s world, churches tend to keep issues related to their leaders (Pastors, priests, elders, etc.) quiet and hidden. Paul wanted the Colossian church to read this letter to Philemon and be open about the issue. This way, I suppose, the lesson of forgiveness could be understood with an actual case study occurring in their midst. Also, Philemon will be under a micro-scope as to how he responds to the sensitive situation. A very interesting and open approach by Paul. We tend to be more comfortable with secrecy.  

Philemon was a prominent member of the church which met in his home. It seems he was a wealthy and prominent member of the community as well. Plus, he had at least one (former) slave, the subject of this letter. More on that later.  

Interesting that of the letters written from prison, this is the only one that opens with this title from Paul; Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus. The letters to the churches usually began with the more formal title of “apostle of Christ Jesus.” But this is a personal letter and not one of apostolic authority. 

The vertical mindset 

We would say he is a prisoner of Rome. Paul says he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus. A simple but profound distinction and lesson. We tend to view our situations, good or bad, horizontally. In other words, from the perspective of world that we live in. It’s only natural. We tend to think in terms of, ‘this is my home’; ‘I work at this company’; ‘I have $$$ in my savings account’; ‘I got a new car’; ‘I gave some money to this cause’. Once again, it’s not necessarily wrong to say such things, it’s natural. But the mindset behind these statements is the real issue.  

Paul tended to see the world vertically, looking upward, from God’s perspective. Paul was in prison by the will of God. This perspective of God’s Sovereignty always prompted Paul to avoid self-pity and embrace the fact that God has a purpose and he immediately sets about to pursue God’s purpose for him. Similar to what we learned when we studied 2 Corinthians regarding the issue of Paul’s thorn in the flesh; there’s nothing wrong with praying for the removal of bad situations. Paul asks Philemon to pray for his release from prison in verse 22. But let’s always keep the perspective that God’s will carries with it a “purpose” and by accepting that purpose in the moment, we are prepared to be used by God in all situations. 

Lord, give us a heavenly perspective in ALL things and at ALL times. It’s so easy and natural to view our life from what we see and feel around us. May we often pause throughout the day and consider You and Your view of things from a heavenly standpoint. May that perspective give us peace and confidence in You! Amen.