A Fresh Perspective - July 13, 2007

I find it interesting that in Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia, where he talks about the new creation (6:15) - the new world that God is bringing about through Christ - he reflects in his own life the tension between the way things are and the way things are meant to be.

According to Paul, the Spirit of God is the power of the new creation. The fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (5:22-23). In another letter he says that love is patient and kind and endures all things (1Cor. 13:4-7). Paul, however, was not very patient and enduring with certain teachers who came to Galatia after he left. These teachers were persuading Gentile Christians to put themselves under the authority of the Jewish law.

Paul, in response, questions their motives by accusing them of trying to impress others and avoid the persecution that comes to those who embrace the cross of Christ. He calls them hypocrites and wishes a curse upon them (1:8-9). He even goes so far as to say about those who were advocating circumcision: "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!" (5:12). This is not the fruit of the Spirit; this reaction is more in line with what he calls "the works of the flesh" (5:19).

But this is not just Paul's problem; it is the human problem. We all feel the tension between what we are called to be and what we are. I feel this tension when I yell at an umpire for making what I think is a bad call. I feel it when I respond negatively to my wife or my son, who at age 16 thinks he knows more about life than I do. I feel it when I react critically toward someone with whom I disagree. I feel it when I act selfishly for my own benefit. I feel it when I allow my stubbornness to keep me from admitting my fault for a breach in a relationship.

I am actually encouraged that Paul has difficulty living up to God's vision of a new world. It assures me that God works through flawed people. As the millionaire Charles Howard says to his manager Tom Smith in the movie Seabiscuit: "You don't throw a whole life away just because it's banged up a bit." We are all banged up a bit; we all fall short of the values of God's new world. But love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:7).

The Love that is at the heart of the universe and calls us each by name works with, in, and through flawed and fallible human beings whom God is pleased to call his children. This is a major part of what makes the "gospel" good news! In the words of Paul: "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Rom. 5:20).

Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (www.ibcfrankfort.com); he welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net. Look for "A Fresh Perspective" every Friday.