Idolising Paul?
I was once told that I have an “unhealthy” reverence for the Apostle Paul. At home, there are no pictures of Paul that I pray to and certainly no statues of him that I bow down to but the friend who took the time to point this out to me was concerned that I was elevating Paul's example too much—even up to the level of Jesus. Paul, he pointed out, was merely human; he was fallible and he made mistakes. We shouldn't regard him as being the absolute example of how we are to live.
At this point I thought it would be helpful to re-evaluate what I think about Paul and why. Do I revere Paul too much? Is my respect for Paul bordering on idolatry? Paul was human and therefore sinful. He was only a man, not God. And the ultimate example of how we are to live is seen in Christ, not Paul.
Paul acknowledges as much in 1 Cor 11:1 and 1 Thess 1:6 where his exhortation to “imitate me” is predicated on his own imitation of Christ. This is probably what lies behind all the other verses where he encourages believers in the churches to follow him (1 Cor 4:16; Phil 3:17; 2 Thess 3:7-9). So, even though Paul was a sinful human being, we are to adhere to his example because he adheres to Christ's example.
Didn't Paul sin? I'm sure he did. He was a child of Adam, just like the rest of us. However, I don't think that examples of his sin are recorded for us in the New Testament. Instead, we are given examples of his good conduct. Before Paul became a Christian, as a zealous Pharisee he was “under the law blameless” (Phil 3:6). After Paul became a Christian, his zeal was redirected to conduct himself (and others) “in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:14). Paul knew his example mattered; it was a sign of the genuineness of his concern for the churches he looked after: “You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.” (1 Thess 2:10). Furthermore, it was a sign of the importance of his teaching; how could he be someone who just “talked the talk” but didn't “walk the walk”?
It is not just Paul's conduct that we are to follow. We are also to pay close attention to his words. Why? Because he does not proclaim himself, he proclaims “Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Cor 4:5). Because what he says is “God-breathed”—it is divinely inspired, the Word of God itself (1 Thess 2:13). They are not “human wisdom”, they are “taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:13); they are “a command of the Lord” (1 Cor 14:37-38). The Apostle Peter, while conceding that some of the things Paul writes are “hard to understand”, acknowledges Paul's work as “Scripture” (2 Pet 3:15-16). Though we might be tempted to accept some things and leave some things out, we should not for then we put ourselves in danger of rejecting what the Lord has said through Paul.
Paul, you see, took his apostleship very seriously. Though his conversion was never the centre of his teaching, at points he referred to it in order to support his claims of who he was. The story of Acts 9 also crops up in Acts 22:2-12 and 26:2-18. In both places, the retelling highlights the fact that it is Jesus who has appointed him for a particular role. Acts 26:16-18 in particular is foundational for how Paul saw himself: Jesus says to him,
But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
From this point on, Paul refers to himself as a “servant”—a servant of God (Col 4:7; Tit 1:1), of Christ (Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10) and of those he has come to win for Christ (1 Cor 9:19). He comes with full apostolic authority which means he has the authority to say what he does. Paul's ministry is also, in some sense, priestly (that's the way he talks about it in Rom 15 where he speaks of “the offering of the Gentiles” in verse 16). He presents his body as a “living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1) for he sees himself being “poured out as a drink offering” (Phil 2:17; 2 Cor 12:5). This is all part of his service.
But Paul is not to be just any servant—he has been sent to the Gentiles—the nations—the people who are not part of the people of God but who would one dare share in the blessings of Abraham (Gen 12:3). Paul is sent as a servant to the Gentiles in order to be a “light” for them (Acts 13:46-47). Paul's “theology” of himself is framed in terms of the Servant of the Lord from Is 42:6 and 49:6:
I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations ... It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
Note Paul is not saying that he is the Servant; that role was definitely Christ's for it was he who was equipped with the Spirit to bear our griefs and carry our sorrows and who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Is 53:4-5). But he does see himself as carrying out one aspect of the Servant's duties and it is Christ who works through him to bring about this accomplishment (Rom 15:18. Also check out Rom 15:21 in relation to Is 52:15).
To sum up what I've been saying:
- Paul follows the example of Christ and his conduct, as far as we know it, is exemplary;
- Paul speaks the words of God;
- Paul is the Lord's apostle. He was sent by Jesus to be the specially designated Servant of the Lord to be a light to the Gentiles.
Why does all this matter? It matters because a healthy respect for Paul, based on what the Bible says about him, is necessary for how you read the New Testament. Of the 27 books that make up the New Testament, Paul wrote almost half of them (13 books). If he speaks the words of God, we ought to heed everything he says and not pick and choose. If he tells us to imitate him as he imitates Christ, we ought to do it and not quibble about which part of his example he meant and which parts he didn't. If he is the Lord's apostle, if we reject him, we are rejecting the Lord himself (as Paul so graciously points out to the Corinthian church in 2 Cor 10-12). If he has been sent by Jesus to be perform the duties of the Servant of the Lord to be a “light” to the Gentiles, if we are Gentiles, this makes him our apostle; he brought us the light of the word, passed down through the generations, and we do well to pay attention.
Sure, we should not idolise Paul or put him on a pedestal. But we should be mindful of the unique role that he played in establishing Christ's kingdom amongst the nations and building up his church. We should take care to note that Paul's authority was divinely mandated. Have a little respect for Paul but make sure it's a healthy one.