Price of Ministry
What of Paulus himself in all of this? He was hated in the name of the Lord, inside the church and out. This was the price he paid for his unwavering faith and fearless ministry, willingly. Seven times in chains, a man bound by the shackles of persecution yet unshackled in spirit. To whom or what were these chains owing? The textual implications seem to suggest that, at least in part, they were exacerbated, or even precipitated, by the jealousies and rivalries between the apostles.
Let us not be naive here. The early church was a hotbed of political intrigue and doctrinal debate. Paulus’s teachings on grace and justification were controversial enough, yet expecting christians from Jerusalem to consider themselves equal to christians among other nations stirred controversy, challenging expectations, and provoking resistance from those who saw him unworthy of his station in Christ Jesus. It is within this context that we must view his sufferings for the Lord through the Lord, not merely as the work of enemies external who hated even a reference to the Lord but also as jealousy of those who loved the Lord as allies within.
Consider the conflict in Antioch, where Peter’s withdrawal from table fellowship with believers of other nations sparked a confrontation. Consider the council in Jerusalem, where Paulus’s stance on circumcision pitted him against the leaders of the christians there. These were battles for the future of the faith, a struggle that often left Paulus isolated. He was misunderstood and disliked by the very people he tried to help.
Consider one of the strange earliest copies of the ancient “Pseudo-Clementine” writings wherein ‘the enemy’ unnamed (who rampaged through the temple and threw James from the temple stairs to near death before heading to Damascus) was claimed to have been none other than Paulus by a cryptic inclusion handwritten in the margins. Taken in contexts with the anti-Paulus vitriol exhibited by the apparent followers of James in the Ebionites, a not-so-nice picture emerges. Though even as we acknowledge the role of jealousy in Paulus’s sufferings, let us not forget he bore the persecution he received in the name of Christ Jesus. For every chainlink binding him, there was a corresponding liberty in bearing the good news unashamedly, of standing firm in the face of adversity, and of embodying the very love that had transformed his life.
What does all this mean in terms of virtues?