An
Inkling
I
was listening to a podcast of the opening lecture in a Fuller Seminary Class on
Paul’s letters, and heard the Professor ask the students, “How many of you have
hated Paul at some point?” The class
broke out laughing. And though I
couldn’t see it, the Professor identified many hands raised.
No
surprise there! It’s true. Ask the same question about other New
Testament writers – Matthew, Luke, Peter, etc – and you might have a hand or
two raised. But it seems that every earnest
New Testament reader has a love-hate relationship with Paul.
Why? Is it his personality coming through? The topics he takes on? The pieces he skips over? The conclusions he reaches? Yes, all that and more.
But
if we believe with the church through the ages that Paul wrote under the Holy
Spirit’s inspiration, then we don’t want to trim off any of what he wrote. However hard it is to understand and receive,
if it’s God’s truth, it’s good and we need it.
But it does take some wrestling.
In
fact, I think that’s a good image for reading the harder portions of
scripture. There are parts of Paul’s
letters which put us in Jacob’s spot, wrestling the angel of the Lord in the
middle of the night (see Genesis 32).
You may recall that Jacob left that place with both a blessing and a
limp.
There
are blessings for us in every passage of scripture. But some come only with a limp. Is the blessing worth it to you? Then wrestle on!
Blessings,
Keith
