PHILEMON 03 – Interpreting & Applying the main Themes

PHILEMON 03 - Interpreting & applying the main themes

Having understood the background of the letter of Philemon and having reconstructed the story around it, we will now start with interpretation of the themes in the letter:

The most important four Interpretation Questions

  • The four question we will repeatedly ask – for every theme in the text – are:
    • Interpretation Question: Why?                          This is the most important question: Why does the author say that? Why do the readers need to hear this?
    • Interpretation Question: Meaning?                  What does this mean to the original readers?
    • Interpretation Question: Significance?           What is the significance of these words to the original readers?
    • Interpretation Question: Author’s intent?       What is the intention of the author in saying that? What does he want the readers to know? To understand? To believe? To respond to? To do? To change?
  • The four questions are related closely and can be used almost interchangeably.
  • We will now apply these four questions to go further into interpretation – and think about issues we can learn from this letter, which is the 3rd step of Inductive Method: Application.
  • Once we really interpret the themes, application will spring up naturally.

Important Themes in the Letter of Philemon – Interpretation & Application

1   Forgiveness
  • In this letter Paul asks Philemon to forgive Onesimus his earlier behavior and unfaithfulness.

instruction

  • Think about why forgiveness is so important.
  • Think about why forgiveness is not optional, Jesus also says that we will only be forgiven if we forgive.
  • Think about what forgiveness exactly is or is not.
    • If I forgive, does this mean that what happened wasn’t bad?
    • If I forgive, do I condone bad behavior?
    • If I forgive, isn’t that unjust?
    • If I forgive, does this mean that I will trust that person again?
    • If I forgive, does this mean that I will let the person do the same thing again?

thoughts

  • Think about why forgiveness is so important.
    • Forgiveness represents God, who is forgiving. It displays God’s attitude to us. To forgive means to be like God, to do as he would do.
    • Forgiveness acknowledges that I, too, am sinful, I too, hurt other people. It is the humility to say that am not in principal different from the offending person.
  • Think about why forgiveness is not optional, Jesus also says that we will only be forgiven if we forgive.
    • In comparison to what God forgives us, forgiveness between humans is on a smaller scale. See Jesus’ parable of the two debtors (Mth 18:23-35).
    • If I demand justice in the case of another person wronging me, I will also be given justice by God in the case of me wronging another person.
    • Helpful illustration: A person enter my living room with a waste bucket in hand and dumps the foul, smelly, ugly waste right in the middle of my living room and leaves. Who should clean up the mess? The other person. But what if the person doesn’t come back? What do I do now? I basically have two options: Either I will let the waste remain where it is, walk around it, re-arrange my furniture around it, re-arrange my life around it and every time a third person enters the room I will point to the waste in the middle of the room and say “See what he did to me??” – Or I can say: “He should clean this up, but he is not doing that. But I do not have to live with this smelly, ugly mess. I will clean it up myself, so it is out of my living room, out of my life and doesn’t ruin my life anymore. If he ever comes back and apologizes, all the better, but I don’t have to wait till that day.”
    • To forgive means to let go, to not keep holding the injustice against that other person, to not hold on to the injustice committed. To hold on to it means to bind myself to it, to let it run my life, poison my emotions, occupy my thoughts. To hold on to it means to never be free of it. That is why counselors say: “Unforgiveness is the only jail where the key and lock are on the inside in the hand of the prisoner. Only the prisoner can get himself out of the jail, those outside can’t help.”
  • Think about what forgiveness exactly is or is not.
    • If I forgive, does this mean that what happened wasn’t bad? … No, for if nothing bad happened, there would be nothing to forgive.
    • If I forgive, do I condone bad behavior? … No, I do not justify or condone bad behavior, but I let go of my right to hold on to this.
    • If I forgive, isn’t that unjust? … It is, in a sense, but then again I have been unjust a thousand times, and received grace none the less.
    • If I forgive, does this mean that I will trust that person again? … No, trust is not automatic, and not demanded by God. Forgiveness is freely given. Trust needs to be re-earned.
    • If I forgive, does this mean that I will let the person do the same thing again? … No, I may have to draw very clear boundaries to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again.
2   Giving a second chance and believing that change is possible
  • In this letter Paul asks Philemon to give Onesimus a second chance, though he has not done well before.
  • In this letter Paul asks Philemon to believe that Onesimus has really changed.

instruction

  • Think about a time when you messed up and were given a second chance.
  • Think about why to receive or to grant a second chance it so essential.
  • Think about why Paul has such a strong confidence that people can change.
  • When do you think Paul learnt about the importance of second chances?

thoughts

  • We all mess up at one time or another. It is human to fail. God does not require perfection.
  • Humbly keeping the our human weakness and fallenness in mind we should not be overly harsh on ourselves or others.
  • To give second chances is what God does. It represents him, pleases him, accomplishes his will and makes us more Christ-like.
  • It is more godly to encourage people to repent and change than to harp on past mistakes. What happened nobody can change. What may happen anybody can influence.
  • Paul himself had at one time been a persecutor of the church and in many people’s eyes a hardened, hopeless fanatic – and yet Christ changed him.
  • It is because he himself changed so thoroughly that he has good faith that God can also change another person (here Onesimus).
  • Maybe one reason I struggle to trust other people’s integrity and godliness is that I am not very faithful myself? If I know I can’t trust myself, why should I trust another?
  • It was the godly disciple Barnabas who sought out Paul as a new convert at a time when all the believers were too scared to reach out to him (Acts 9:26-28) and it was Barnabas that recruited Paul into ministry (Acts 11:25-26).Later Barnabas leads a mission team with Paul (Acts 13:1-3) and later hands over leadership over the team to Paul (Acts 13:13ff). Paul needed someone to champion him at that time, and Barnabas did so beautifully.
  • Barnabas again taught Paul about giving second chances over the issue of whether John Mark should join them on a missions trip (Acts 15:36-40). Paul disagreed, but later came to accept John Mark (2 Tim 4:11) and acknowledged indirectly that Barnabas’ giving of a second chance was fruitful.

think about application

  • What can you learn from this?
  • Who do you need to give a second chance to?
  • What failure or mistake do you need to release yourself from?
  • Who is there that you could invest into? Spend time? Teach the ways of God? Challenge to a truly obedient, truly powerful life?
  • Who do you have no hope for? What is God saying about that?
Using opportunities

instruction

  • Use the timeline of Paul’s life to estimate how many years Paul is in prison by the time he writes this letter.
  • What is significant about that? How do you think Paul felt?
  • What is he doing ‘stuck in prison’?

thoughts

  • Paul is in prison for 4-5 years by the time he writes this letter: he was arrested in 57 AD in Jerusalem and he writes this letter towards the end of 62 AD.
  • Paul already in 56 AD was planning his new pioneer mission to the West out beyond Rome (Rom 15:22-29), just before he went to Jerusalem.
  • For a pioneer like Paul to be stuck was definitely not easy, besides his care for the churches he couldn’t go to at this time (2 Cor 11:27).
  • We would say: how can God leave a worker as effective as Paul stuck in a prison for 5 years? But God obviously doesn’t think that way.
  • Paul is not allowing himself to drown in self-pity, he keeps a good attitude (telling the Philippians at this same time to rejoice in all things), and uses whatever opportunities he does have: even if it is an unfaithful servant (Onesimus), he shares his life with him, evangelizes him, disciples him, mentors him, invests in him.
  • Paul does in prison what he also does outside of prison: evangelism, teaching, discipleship, mentoring, building leaders, prayer, care for the churches.
  • Paul is completely faithful to his calling in whatever circumstance.

think about application

  • What can you learn from Paul?
  • What issue are temptations for me to feel self-pity? Am I allowing myself to ‘drown in self-pity’? What would God have me do instead?
  • What circumstance in your life do you blame or even use as an excuse to not be faithful?
  • How could you live more according to God’s will and calling in your current circumstances?
Worth my time and heart

instruction

  • This letter is evidence that Paul, even though an important leaders and weighty apostle, is very willing and active in using his time to invest in ‘normal people’, or here even in a ‘proven unfaithful servant’ of someone else.
  • Would you or would today’s spiritual leaders consider this ‘worth their time’? What can we learn from Paul here?
  • Often today we say that as a spiritual leader you cannot get ‘too close to people’. Do you think Paul is acting by this advice? What verses in the text speak to this?

thoughts

  • Paul says in Gal 3:28 and Col 3:11 that “in the Lord” there is no difference between humans based on ethnicity, gender or status: the free person is as important as the servant.
  • From this letter we can see that Paul really did what he preached, he invests major time, effort and emotion in a young man who is not only low class, he seems to not have done well in spite of the efforts of another good believer (Philemon).
  • Paul also does not do this as a removed or aloof leader wishing to be ‘benevolent from afar’, he really befriends Onesimus and develops a love and emotional attachment to him. In Phm 12 he calls Onesimus “my own heart” and in Phm 13 he expresses that he really would have liked to keep Onesimus and work with him in the future.
Learning from Paul about what true discipleship means

instruction

  • Think about what you can learn from Paul about the meaning of discipleship.
  • Think about the relationship between getting saved (Onesimus is already saved) and getting discipled (what Paul is doing here).
  • According to this letter: What does Paul think is essential to real discipleship? Make a list.

thoughts

  • Clearly for Paul ‘getting somebody saved’ was not the final goal (‘saving souls for heaven’) but salvation is rather the starting point of discipleship, of developing into a person of integrity and fruitfulness.
  • What does discipleship mean for Paul?
  • Just confessing sins to God and receiving forgiveness is not enough. Not even confessing sins to a counselor (Paul) is enough. We would say ‘Onesimus you are saved, forgiven, free, … clean slate! Now you can pursue your calling in God! Don’t worry about past sins, they are all gone. Don’t worry about making things right, you are a new creation!’
  • But Paul encourages Onesimus to take responsibility for his past behavior, to go back, to humble himself, to submit to Philemon, to make restitution, to uphold the rights of Philemon, to ask for forgiveness, to truly own up, to make things right. He will not allow Onesimus to blame others or circumstances, to keep a ‘victim mentality’, to keep ‘unsolved business’, to ignore past issues, but rather to handle them under God.
  • Onesimus has to trust God … and Paul … and Philemon. He has to learn obedience and submission, which are the basis for his future leadership a d authority. Remember: only those under authority have authority (Luk 7:8, Heb 5:8).
  • This will teach Onesimus truth and cause and effect. It will make him understand the nature of sin. It will help break sin’s hold over his life and help him to understand God’s character. While working through this with Paul Onesimus’ reactions would show, fears, non-trust, cope-outs, and be addressed by Paul appropriately.

think about application

  • We are too cheap in our discipleship! We cut open cocoons instead of letting the butterfly struggle out as is needful for his wing development.
  • We short-cut the difficult process but it results in stunted growth and impairment in the future.
  • Often under our discipleship people do not truly change, and then they have no faith for others to be truly changed.
  • What would God have you learn from this? What do you need to do yourself? Is there something you have never confessed? never taken responsibility for? Never made restitution for? Never went back to? Is this maybe a reason you struggle to break certain habits? What do you need to take help for?
  • And who around you needs discipleship? Needs this sort of message? How can you support them in their growth?
What can you learn about trust, giving recommendations and reconciliation?

instruction

  • Think about what you can learn from this letter about trust and extending trust.
  • Think about what you can learn from this letter about giving recommendations for other people.
  • Think about what you can learn from this letter about reconciliation? How should you behave if there was a conflict among two of your friends?

thoughts to consider

  • Discipling Onesimus like this also means that Paul needs to (re-)establish Onesimus’ trust in Philemon. In order for this to work Onesimus must trust Paul’s recommendation of Philemon (‘I know he will not do you harm!’).
  • And through this letter Paul seeks for Philemon to extend trust to Onesimus again.
  • It’s a trust triangle: Paul trust Philemon. Paul assures Onesimus to trust Philemon (sending him back). Paul trusts Onesiums. Paul assures Philemon to trust Onesimus (recommendation letter).
  • Paul’s trust in both helps to repair their relationship. Paul’s trustworthiness in both the others’ eyes helps them to trust the other again on that basis.
  • Paul’s intention is to restore their relationship, to restore their trust in each other, to make their relationship ‘independent of him’.
  • When a relationship is broken between two people, it is easy to come in and by a bit of emotional talk ‘bind’ people in loyalty to yourself, playing the comforter, the ‘licker of wounds’, the empathizer with past injustice (“oh poor you, I can’t believe he/she did that!”). How different is Paul!
  • Paul is loyal to Philemon in his absence, he does not ‘blame all on him’, he does not clear Onesiums of responsibility, he recommends Philemon to Onesimus. He acts as a relationship builder, a reconciler.
  • Onesimus would feel honored by Paul’s trust in him. Paul’s trust would call forth the best in him. By recommending him Paul gives Onesimus power: Paul’s word and Paul’s reputation is now in Onesimus’ hands. If he acts carelessly or haughtily, he will create a problem for Paul. Paul trusts that Onesimus will not shame him once back in Colossae.
  • Recommendations are a tricky business. To recommend someone is to extend trust in one relationship into another relationship. It is a risk for in one sense we bind our word to somebody else’s behavior … and we are accountable for our recommendation, if it breaks. So we should not give recommendations lightly. But a recommendation can be a powerful force for good.
  • Does your interference in other people’s difficult relationships polarize? patronize? make loyal? take advantage?
  • Paul is selfless in his attempt to restore their relationship – are you using other people’s conflicts to win brownie points? to do politics? to gossip? to win yourself a friend? Are you loyal to people in their absence?
  • Have you been recommended? Used recommendations? Did you live up to it? Did you take it seriously? Have you given recommendations? How seriously? How accurately?
  • Are you valuing the trust of people? Are you being trustworthy?
What can we learn about open communication from Paul?

thoughts to consider

  • There is also the issue of open communication versus conspiracy in this letter.
  • Paul could have made Onesimus a missionary to the West, Philemon would probably have never known.
  • But Paul will not go the pathway of secrecy or conspiracy, he wants things to be sorted out, addressed and worked up, clean, clear and out in the open.

think about application

  • In what area do you need to communicate better? more clearly? What have you left unclear? Unaddressed?
  • Is God challenging you to speak up in a certain regard? Explain yourself? Lay open your reasons? Communicate your heart?
  • Where are you resorting to hiding? to concealing? to doing things behind people’s back? What other pathways could you choose?
What can you learn about the relationship of ‘surrounding culture’ and ‘gospel’?

thoughts to consider

  • There also is the issue of gospel over culture, or culture over gospel in this story.
  • Surrounding culture would give Philemon a free hand to do whatever he likes with Onesimus, punshing, branding, torturing, abandoning or even in an extreme case execute him.
  • Is Philemon more lead by culture or by the gospel? Paul very clearly expects Philemon to act according to the gospel in spite of prevalent culture.

think about application

  • When gospel and our surrounding culture are in conflict, what are you obeying?
  • The letter of Philemon is written so that the gospel may overcome culture (here slavery, arbitrary and bad treatment of slaves, thinking of people in different categories, …).
  • Where have you ‘submitted the gospel to culture’?
  • What do you think doing that has done to our church in the long run?
Is Paul manipulating Philemon?

thoughts to consider

  • Paul in this letter is indeed strong, almost manipulative, especially in Phm 19, calling on Philemon’s own indebtedness to him.
  • Some people dislike the letter of Philemon for this reason, that Paul is polite but still exerts quite a bit of pressure.
  • Legally Philemon has the right to punish, brand, torture or even kill Onesimus, though that was not common anymore by the time this letter was written.
  • Yet this letter is Onesimus’ only defense, it needs to accomplish its goal, and Paul doesn’t want to take chances.
  • In contrast to the ‘pressure’ language of verse 19 stands the light hearted verse Phm 11, which is actually a pun, a play on words. The name ‘Onesimus’ means ‘useful. So verse 11 in Greek is something like: Mr. Onesimus was not very Onesimus, but now Onesimus is really Onesimus. Or to transliterate it ‘Mr. useful was rather useless but now he is indeed useful’.
  • Also Phm 4-7, and even more so Phm 21 is warm and affirming: “Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.”
  • In the next unit we will look at one more aspect of this letter, which will show even more clearly that Paul is not manipulative.
What can we learn about accountability from this letter?

thoughts to consider

  • Paul’s verse Phm 22 “Prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you” is important: Paul coming to Colossae before long and that introduces accuntability into the system.
  • Accountability for whom?
    • Accountability for Philemon: Paul will come and his first question will be: where is Onesimus? Paul will follow up with Philemon as to the treatment of Onesimus.
    • Accountability for Onesimus: Paul will come and see, whether the (former) slave now behaves fairly, humbly, wisely in the potentially difficult situation. Will he bring Paul’s recommendation in disrepute? Will he prove trustworthy? If not, he will bring Philemon into a difficult situation – and he will close the door for all other slaves.
    • Accountability for Paul: If his recommendation for Onesimus breaks and Onesimus has created a difficult situation for Philemon or abused his grace in any way, Paul will have to help sort out the mess. Philemon will be able to appeal to him.
    • But also the other way round: If Philemon did not treat Onesimus well, then Paul’s oral recommendation of Philemon to Onesimus (which encouraged him to return in the first place) will have proven a lie, and Paul will have to act on behalf of Onesimus, deal with the disappointment and rebuild his trust in both.
    • Paul will have to stand straight financially and emotionally for a broken recommendation.
  • There is also a potential accountability in the fact that the letter is addressed not to Philemon alone, but also to Apphia, Archippus and the house church (Phm 2). It is a public letter, and that will put the spot light on Philemon. But more on that in the next unit.

think about application

  • What can you learn from this? There are many examples like this: Bangladeshi pastors get the chance to go for free training to Germany or Korea or wherever, and they disappear and stay back illegally in the country, applying for asylum as persecuted Christians. Because of their behavior chances like this will no longer to be offered to other pastors because the inviting organization is frustrated or because the government puts pressure on the organization for the illegal immigrants.
  • Will Onesimus close doors for others? Will you close doors for others? Or will by your faithfulness trust be extended to others like you? What roles do you have? Where can your behavior make a difference?
  • How much do you desire integrity? Are you wise enough to desire and put in place accountability for yourself?

So far we have looked at Philemon talking about the main three figures, Paul, Philemon and Onesimus. But this letter wasn’t written in a vacuum. For further thoughts about the letter see ‘Philemon 04 – Interpreting & applying the wider context‘.

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY