So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it. And I won’t mention that you owe me your very soul! Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ. I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more! One more thing—please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Philemon 1:17-25 NLT
The eternal law of God transcends cultural laws or human opinions. In Christ we are a new creation, and every human relationship we have starts with this new creation. There is no slavery in the new creation, and humans are not exploited or used. In this letter we can see how Paul practically worked out the eternal law of new creation while still living in the cultural (and often brutal) world of Roman law.
Onesimus was a runaway slave. Paul did not force Philemon to end his slave ownership; Paul subverted the very institution of slavery by calling Onesimus a beloved and useful brother. Paul appealed to the “debt” that Philemon owed him as an apostle, and asked Philemon to act out of love. Paul didn't force Philemon or break any Roman laws, but he appealed to Philemon to live out the new creation—where there is neither slave nor free, only God's children loving each other, serving each other, and choosing to follow Him.
We are called to live out the new creation in our day. Our world still has slavery, human trafficking, and commercial exploitation. We can't force people or use tactics of shame because that is not the way of new creation. We teach and live out the law of love that transcends our culture. The way of Christ, when lived out by humans, is stronger than the powerful people that see their fellow humans only as a means of furthering their own power.
What are the parts of our culture that the Lord is trying to transform? If you can’t use force or shame, how can you be part of the change?
