Jesus was not a social reformer. He did not try to cure the ills of society. He came exclusively to offer the cure for the illness of a human soul. Unfortunately, there are churches that get this mixed up. They take some verses out of context and believe that it’s their responsibility to fix all the bad things that happen in the world. It is one thing to have clothing or food closets available for the needy. Besides that, the church has a major responsibility to reach out addressing the spiritual needs of as many people as possible.
We needed to make this difference because of the purpose for the book of Philemon. Paul wrote this one-chapter letter to a man named Philemon whose slave, Onesimus, stole money and ran away. Somewhere in his flight he met Paul and accepted Christ as his Savior. This book, this letter, was written for Philemon to accept his rogue slave back into the fold as a Christian brother, not merely a piece of property as a slave. The verse we have identified tells us that Paul was willing to reimburse Philemon for any financial loss he experienced because of the slave.
Allow me to repeat myself in a different way. Had this letter been written in modern times, it would have addressed the evil of slavery. It would’ve smoothed over the crime of thievery done against Philemon. Of course, that was then and this is now. Paul wrote this letter to get to the root of the problem. He was not bewailing slavery as a whole. More importantly, his attention was focused on reconciliation based on the principles of Christianity.
This writing is also symbolic by representing Christ who paid the ultimate price for balancing the debt owed as a result of slavery to sin. When Jesus went to the cross, he not only offered to pay the price but did in fact pay the price that was needed for the slavery that we all have experienced under the rule of Satan.
If we are going to extend the ministry of Jesus, it must be in the method he set out as he was here on earth. Jesus did not seek to reform Judaism or religion in general. He did not try to get people to play nice. He knew that when a person is reborn as a new creation, the ills of society would eventually be addressed as they should but not as a primary focus. When God loving people are together and they allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, things happen for them as well as the world around them.
We are so blessed that Jesus paid the price for our crimes under slavery to the world. He brought us out from the world giving us a new life with a new future. How wise we would be to value what Jesus did in our behalf. How beneficial to us in the world around us it would be if we live the kind of life that demonstrated allegiance to Christ and appreciation for the salvation that he provided us. We would no longer have to conform to rules and various religious regulations. Our conformity would be from our heart and appreciation to and for our love of Christ. How wonderful it would be if we measured every word, every action, every attitude first by how it would show to the Lord that we truly value the salvation he provided.
Christian Writer 