Lovingly Always

“The Christianity which Paul preached was no less counter cultural and revolutionary in its society than that which we proclaim, therefore, we have no excuse to fall into the culture around us.”

Before I get started I would like to explain a few buzzwords so that we are all on the same page. Counterculture means a way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm. This means that it is always used in reference to a specific group of people at certain time. Worldview is the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual, group, or culture interprets the world and interacts with it. Moral religiosity is the belief that works are the way to life, not the way of life. Lastly, secular ethics is a branch of moral philosophy in which ethics are based solely on human faculties typically focusing on pleasure as the main goal.

So to understand Paul and what he preached, you first need to know his background. Saul of Tarsus, later known as the apostle paul, was born in AD 5 to Jewish parents of Roman citizenship. He was raised in Jerusalem, and at some point between AD 15 and AD 20 he began his studies under the famous Rabbi Gamaliel.

Saul famously was at the trial of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, where the executioners laid their garments at His feet. Saul’s anti- Christian zeal motivated him to not only arrest the male christian ringleaders but the female believers as well. He was such a zealous and devout pharisee that persecuting Christians was the natural way for him to show his devotion to his faith.

As I learned from Andrew Sandlin, one of the best ways to learn about Paul and his character is by seeing what he said about himself. He never revoked his jewish heritage but remained proud of it, as shown in Philippians 3:5, saying I was ‘circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee.’

The Pharisees were widely regarded as meticulous interpreters of the Torah. They also adhered to extrabiblical traditions, many of which called upon Jews to be scrupulous about eating, tithing, and ritual purity, possibly as a way to translate the holiness required at the temple into day-to-day life. Such conscientious commitment to Jewish law might be construed as legalistic. “Tithing mint, dill, and cumin,” as Matthew puts it, “while neglecting the weightier matters of the law” (Matt 23:23). Rather than ‘blindly following the letter of the Law’ even if it conflicted with reason or conscience, the Pharisees interpreted the Law according to its perceived spirit. When in the course of time a law had been outgrown or superseded by changing conditions, they gave it a new and more-acceptable meaning, seeking scriptural support for their actions through a poorly guided system of hermeneutics.

Paul chose to use his Hebrew name, Saul, until sometime after he began to believe in and preach Christ. After that time, as “the apostle to the Gentiles”, he used his Roman name, Paul. It would make sense for Paul to use his Roman name as he traveled farther and farther into the Gentile world. Using his Roman name was fitting for the man who proclaimed that he would become “all things to all people,” a Jew to the Jews in order to win the Jews, weak to the weak in order to win the weak, etc., all for the sake of the gospel. It is also possible that Paul gave up the use of his Hebrew name, Saul, with its regal connotation and chose to use his Roman name, Paul, meaning “little” or “small,” because he desired to become smaller in order to present Christ as greater.

Paul went on his missionary journeys through Greece in order to focus more on preaching to the Gentile population as the jews had essentially forsaken him. So this incredibly Hebrew man follows the Lord’s guidance into the pagan society of ancient Greece.

Hellenic polytheism, or the religion of worshipping the gods of Greek mythology, was the driving force in ancient Greek culture. It was present in all areas of life in formal rituals, myths, temples across the urban landscape, festivals and sporting competitions all dedicated to the gods. In order for Greek government and society to function, all citizens accepted the principles that the gods existed, they could influence human affairs, and they welcomed and responded to acts of piety and worship.

As I saw throughout my trip to Greece, there were many temples dedicated to the gods in every city we went to. Imagining myself as Paul walking into a place so foreign and so vocally worshipping many different gods, I was and continue to be amazed by his determination in preaching the gospel to so many lost people.

Paul, as a Hebrew, walked into a society with a very different way of thinking. While the Hebrews believed in one God who created everything and was active in ruling his creation, the Greeks had many gods and goddesses who each had their own jurisdiction. Hebrews believed in man in the image of god, with humankind being created to mirror the creator in all ways, whereas the Greeks viewed their gods in the image of man with human feelings and fallibilities. The Hebrews found beauty in both the physical and in the spiritual aspects of a person, whereas the Greeks viewed human beauty as the ultimate ideal. Hebrew thought extended past the binary, with everything having a simple meaning, an implied meaning, a moralistic meaning, and a hidden meaning. Greek thought was very precise, leaving very little possibility.

The Pharisees were on the surface the perfect Jews. They tithed. They prayed. They fasted. They regularly went to the synagogue. If you were to ask any preacher, they would say those were the type of people they wanted in their church. But the truth of it is that they did what they did for all the wrong reasons. They didn’t do it to bring glory to the Father but to bring glory to themselves.

The Greeks were an indulgent society. They valued human beauty above most things. They sought pleasure in over-indulgence, drunkenness, and extramarital relations. They had little care for their fellow man, but instead sought only that which brought themselves ahead. They ultimately were a self-serving society above all else.

We however are called to be like Paul who was persistent in his teaching, patient with fallible people, fearless in his teaching of the gospel, humble and aware that any success of his was given to him from the Lord, uncompromising in his faith and beliefs, a man of integrity,  forgiving of those who hated him, and forgiving of himself in his past failings.

To be a Christian you must not only ask for forgiveness for the bad things you have done, but also for the reason you did the right things. You must give up your self-serving nature, and should follow in Paul’s footsteps as a persistent, uncompromising, humble, and fearless preacher of the truth.