Building a Culture of Forgiveness - Philemon Pt. 2
by Joe Leavell
Part 1 of our series on forgiveness from Philemon is found here.
“There is scarcely anything so dull and meaningless as Bible doctrine taught for its own sake. Truth divorced from life is not truth in its biblical sense, but something else and something less….theological truth is useless until it is obeyed.”
The book of Phileon is complicated, gritty, and challenging. The deeper you dive, the more practical questions you will discover that will rub against the way our culture thinks and acts. While this little book gives no doctrinal commands to us today, it practically demonstrates for us how to apply the principles for biblical forgiveness and reconciliation in the middle of a messy culture from the first century until today.
Understanding A Different Era
Bear with me as we go over a little history quickly. There is an important point here because it’s hard for us to hear the word ‘slave’ and not look at it through our own perspective and history of American slavery.
In first-century Rome, there were many ways a person could become a slave, and it was quite common to be one. Historians estimate that 5-10% of the population of the Roman Empire were slaves during this time frame, or up to 5 million people.
Individuals became slaves through Roman conquest, were born into it, or people sold themselves or their children into slavery to pay off debts.
Roman slavery had absolutely nothing to do with your race and everything to do with your station in life. Slavery could be either brutal labor or quite posh, depending on the position and disposition of your master. In many cases, slaves had high levels of education. Many were tutors, managed households, musicians, artists, librarians, and accountants.
Unlike chattel slavery in the US, in this system, you were able to buy your freedom or be given your freedom, if you worked hard enough for your master. In some cases, upon the master’s death they could inherit their master’s estate and in others, slaves were adopted into their master’s family. On average, the time a slave spent in a slavery-level class was between 7-20 years before gaining their freedom.
According to Roman law, while life could go well for you as a slave if you excelled at your job, running away was never tolerated! Now, you must know that by this time in history, there had already been 3 slave revolts within the last 150 years, including the famous Spartacus. Romans took no chances and dealt harshly with slaves seeking freedom by running away.
Sometimes, captured slaves were branded on their foreheads to show they had been fugitives. Other times, they were beaten or simply sold to the arena or simply killed. Some were forced to wear a metal collar riveted around their necks with the names of their master, almost like a dog collar.
Can you see why it was culturally a BIG deal for Paul to send Onesimus back to Philemon to restore their relationship? For Onesimus to go back to his former master willingly was quite literally him putting his life in Philemon’s hands.
Does Philemon Justify Slavery?
Still, everything inside of me as a US citizen says, “Onesimus shouldn’t have been asked to return to slave status, even in the best of circumstances! Slavery is evil!” And that’s true. The heartbreaking reality is that this story of Onesimus was used during the days of American slavery to justify the slavery of black people.
How? Because at first glance it appears that Paul is not doing much to discourage its practice. Rather, he is sending a runaway slave back to his master! So, the criticisms of the Bible and the perception is that the Bible condones and even advocates for slavery.
Is that true? And if it’s not, why did Paul send Onesimus back to Philemon? Why didn’t he just tell Philemon that it was sinful to own Onesimus in the first place? Even more, why couldn’t he do more to destroy the entire practice of slavery throughout the Roman Empire?
While there has been far more done elsewhere to explain Scripture’s perspective as it deals with the institution of slavery, let me just leave us with a few important thoughts:
The New Testament unfolds under the backdrop of a pagan Roman culture - Paul here is accurately writing within a social system that is already there, for good or for bad, and is giving counsel in light of the Gospel. This is similar to how we are in a culture where abortion is common. We as believers face the challenge of living in light of how to love and care for those who have struggled through that issue.
Practically speaking, there wasn’t a lot that the apostles could effectively do about slavery. Christianity was illegal, and commanding pagan masters or Roman emperors to free their slaves would have been meaningless to the culture. There were no Christians in positions of authority with a voice to make any difference in Roman law.
The message of the Gospel of Christ is to set the heart free from slavery to sin and to bring peace with God. Change takes place from the inside out. Where the Spirit of God is living and working in believers, the seeds of civil freedom and equality are right on its heels, as we will see in future articles.
The reality is that Paul did not send Onesimus back to return to slavery. He sent him back and instructed Philemon to restore him to a place of brotherhood within the household. Beyond this, he expressed confidence that Philemon would do even more for Onesimus than what Paul was asking!
This is incredible! The Gospel of Christ takes a master and a slave, a rich man and a poor man, and transforms them into brothers. No social reform could do what only Christ can do!
Author Donald Guthrie puts it this way,
“Paul transforms the character of the master-slave relationship. Onesimus is returning no longer as a slave but as a beloved brother. It is clearly incongruous for a Christian master to ‘own’ a brother in Christ…and although the existing order of society could not be immediately changed by Christians without a political revolution (which was clearly contrary to Christian principles), the Christian master-slave relationship was so transformed from within that it was bound to lead ultimately to the abolition of the system.”
One last thought is that Scripture teaches believers contentment and rest in God’s sovereignty and goodness regardless of our circumstances. 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 says,
Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise, he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.
How could he say that to people living in slavery, “Get free if you can, but if not, don’t worry about it because you are really free in Christ!”? It is not because this culture of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ was OK. It is that, as a believer, no matter what our circumstances or our social standing may be, they are all secondary to our identity in Christ! We are citizens of a better country, no matter where, when, or how well we live. We have a better Master and are a part of a better family and a greater kingdom!
A Culture of Freedom
Regardless of whether we are rich, poor, slave or free, Jew or Greek, male or female, black, white, yellow, or green, believers all are equal at the foot of the cross as brothers and sisters in Christ! When you know that to be true, and live in confidence in your identity in Christ, there is real freedom. This is the freedom to rest in Christ and the freedom to love and serve others! There is freedom for the one who has been wronged to forgive. There is also freedom for the one who has done the wrong to repent, seek forgiveness, offer restitution, and seek reconciliation.
Just like in the first century, the concept of forgiveness continues to be completely counter-cultural. Yet, these early Christians lived out this counter-identity so well! Clement of Rome, towards the end of the 1st century, who himself had been born a slave, observed,
“We know that many among ourselves have delivered themselves to bondage, that they might ransom others. Many have sold themselves to slavery, and receiving the price paid for themselves have fed others.”
Did you catch that? They knew so well that their identity was in Christ and His Kingdom that they were willing to sell themselves into slavery. In turn, they gave away the proceeds of the sale of their own bodies to help feed the poor! Wow!
They took the commands of Christ seriously that to be great in God’s kingdom, you had to be a servant of all.
So, the question for us in our culture is this: am I living out my identity in my Savior who took on the posture of a slave and served to the point of His death, or do I see myself as a master to be served by those around me? Will I work to be a part of a culture of forgiveness and reconciliation wherever possible, or will I reflect my own culture that looks out only for our own interests?
If you view yourself as a master, you will find forgiveness will be very difficult. If you’re struggling with the hurt that you’ve caused, or are wrestling through what it might mean to forgive, please reach out to us today.
Next time we will look at the character of those who forgive and look deeper into this Gospel that compels us to look at forgiveness through a new perspective.
For Further Study:
Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I: by Tim Keller
The Peacemaker: By Ken Sande
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making: by Timothy S. Lane, Paul David Tripp
