Paul and Leadership Qualities

A Man without a decision of character can never be said to belong to himself . He belongs to whatever can make captive of him.
John Foster

Paul to Philemon: an Unread Letter? One of the not-so-familiar works of Paul is his letter to Philemon. It is quite difficult to imagine that this letter is the least read when in fact it is the shortest of his 13 so called letters. Despite our penchant for what is short and instant, the letter s unknown status calls for explanation. I guess the reason lies not in its brevity but in its position in the listing of Pauline scriptural entries. The letters of Paul are arranged from longest to shortest Romans to Philemon.1 Since the long letters are not short

in content, readers either loose stamina before finishing two or three of these letters or probably, after some casual reading, readers find Paul difficult to understand. Thus, we never really get to reach the last letter--to Philemon. This letter to Philemon is one of Paul s more mature letters. Paul writes with much respect and love unlike his angry letter addressed to the Galatian Churches; Paulappeals on the basis love (Phil 1:9) unlike the conscienticizing letters to the Corinthians. Although Paul writes from his prison cell2, he asks Philemon, the head of a household church, (probably in Colossae) to receive back Onesimus, no longer as a slave, as he was before, but as a brother, a freeman and a believer (cf. 1:16). What a contrast! Paul was in slavery yet he pleads for the freedom of Onesimus.

The only exemption to this is that Galatians comes before Ephesians even though by most counts Eph is about 200 words longer than that of Galatians.
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There are two positions as to where Paul wrote the letter to Philemon--either from Rome, during his imprisonment or from his Ephesus imprisonment (cf. 2 Tim 1:8; 4:13). This paper takes the second though not so famous stand. The issues that came to Paul during his stay at Ephesus and how Paul dealt with them must have contributed to the transformation of Onesimus.

Onesimus: from a Slave to a Bishop To read this very short letter, we need to recall our elementary and high school examinations when we filled in lots of blanks. The letter affords lots of gaps that one needs much imagination and a degree of research to complete the picture. We are not told who Onesimus is and why he was with Paul in the same jail. Some believed he was a runaway slave of Philemon, caught and imprisoned and found himself bysheer coincidencewith Paul in the same prison; others think that he was a slave of Philemon sent to assist Paul while the latter was serving his jail terms in Ephesus. We are not told for how long Onesimus was with Paul (days,

weeks, months, years?) If there is one thing that we can be certain of it is this: Paul, while in Prison with Onesimus, was the cause for the change or conversion of Onesimus. Onesimus, formerly a slave or a runaway thief, after serving Paul as slave during the prison stay, is now called by Paul not as a slave but as my child, whose father I have become during my imprisonment (v.10); Onesimus, formerly a useless (v. 11) one to Philemon, after a time of serving Paul in Prison, is now endorsed back by Paul to Philemon as a useful one to both of them; Onesimus, who was a nobody, before he lived with Paul, is now sentthis time representing the very heart of Paul back to Philemon.Latter tradition has it that Onesimus became a Bishop of Ephesus after the death of Paul (Ign. Eph. 1.3).He, together with Timothy, lead the church at Ephesus. What a transformation! What a life journey! From a runaway

slave/thief/useless one to becoming a believer then, not only a simple believer but one who can represent the very heart of Paul (v.13) and finally one of the Bishops of Ephesus. All these makeover was because of Onesimus privileged place to have lived,served, listened to Paul and most probably witnessed for himself howPaul dealt with some of the issues concerning the churches he had founded.

Paul s Leadership Qualities

How did Paul influence Onesimus? What has transformed him? How did this conversion from a slave to freeman, from uselessness to usefulness, from being an unbeliever to a believer happen? It must have been what he saw and heard and most probably what they have discussed(?) or conversed with together.

Paul: a Servant-leader who Loves his People more than Position It was reported to Paul about a division or quarrel among the believers at Corinth. Believers were comparing and matching up leaders against each others. Each faction held tenaciously to their opted leaders and weighed others against their choice.3 This caused exclusivist tendencies among members and an in-group-out-group relations within a small believing community. Paul describes this situation in the words each of you says, I belong to Paul or I belong to Apollos , or I belong to Cephas or I belong to Christ . (1 Cor 1:12). To convince the Corinthians to work for unity in mind and heart (1:10) and to set aside their tendencies to compare their ministers, Paul underscored the roles of the ministers in relation to the people. Paul compares himself as a gardener who plants the seed and another minister (Apolos) a gardener who waters. However, the most important role is done not by either the one who plans or he who waters, but the most important role is given to the one who gives growth to the seed i.e. God

himself, Neither the one who plans nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Cor 3:7). Paul then places in the right perspective the role of the ministers/leaders. They all have the same role and purpose, all are working for the good and the building up of the people.

Jan Lambrecht, 1 Corinthians in The International Bible Commentary (Collegeville, Minnesota:1998), pp. 16051606. The author discusses whether there are really four factions or that those who say I belong to Christ are those who are against division.

Furthermore, not only did Paul catechized the people of the service-oriented role of leaders but even underscored the necessity for each and every minister of God to be the best they can be and to give the best that they are and they have, According to the grace of God given to me, Paul writes, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it (1 Cor 3:10). Paul had the greatest advantage from the rest of the ministers at Corinth, He was the founder of the community, he was their father in faith. If he had his personal agenda ahead of the community s growth, he could have fueled the division to his advantage. But No. Paul is not a position-conscious minister. He places before anything else the unity and sanctity of the community Do you not know that you are God s temple and that God s spirit dwells in you? Paul continues, If any one destroys God s

temple, God will destroy that person. For God s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Cor 3:16). Paul loved his people more than his position.

The Non Compromising Moral Integrity of Paul A sexual immorality was also reported to Paul. It was a scandal, in the words of Paul, not found even among the pagans (1 Cor 5:1). It was a sexual relationship between a son and his step-mother, a man is living with his father s wife (1 Cor 5:1). What complicates the matter within the Christian

community at Corinth was that such scandal was a public secret.4 And much more, a certain group of believers were already accepting such relationship as next to ordinary or as an alternative behavior. These were not only approving of such scandal but were even boasting of such new immoral development as nothing but acceptable. For Paul, there is no gray area between immorality and morality. To the man having the sexual relations with his stepmother, Paul showed his disapproval in the strongest terms possible, I have

Gerald Haris, The Beginning of Church Disciple: 1 Corinthians 5, in Understanding Paul s Ethics: Twentieth Century Approaches, ed. B.S. Rosner (Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1995), p. 132.

already pronounced judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing . You are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord (1 Cor 5:3-5). And to those wishing to approve and accept the scandalous behavior as a moral alternative, Paul reprimanded them of their boastfulness, Your boasting is not a good thing. (1 Cor 5:6) and tried to convince them to make their moral lives a true and rightful offering to Christ, Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch . Let us celebrate the festival not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Cor 6-8). For Paul, there was no compromise to some ethical and moral standards. Moral integrity is the supposed special mark separating believers from unbelievers.

Paul: the servant-leader who Walks the Talk Paul was kind of a leader who has a keen eye for the weaker members of the community. Like his own master Jesus who welcomes the sick, dines with the tax collectors and associates with sinners so as to lead these to God s ways, Paul pays close attention to the needs especially of the new converts. In chapter 8 of I Corinthians, Paulcomes to the rescue of the newly converted Corinthian Christians of pagan origin. In their old pagan ways, these were used to offer food as sacrifices to their idols. And in those days they were truly convinced of the validity and authenticity of their pagan worship. Now as new initiates into the Christian life, they had the difficulty of disassociating themselves with their old practices. Such that, when they are invited to meals by their pagan friends and food previously given in pagan sacrifices were offered before them, their weak conscience (1Cor 8:7) is just disturbed or defiled. What seemed to be more disturbing was the fact that their elder brothers in faith or mature believers, who had a solid faith in God and recognized that idols had no real existence (c.f. 8:4), eat without question on conscience even food offered previously in idol worships. These mature

Christianssay Food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.
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These mature believers understood well Jesus words

whatever goes into a person

from outside cannot defile

(Mk 7:18).This liberty of the mature believers puts in jeopardy the faith of

the new converts. These are scandalized or most probably, they are encouraged to do the same, but with a conscience much disturbed. Paul addressing the situation, challenges the mature believers. He advises them to take care that such liberty does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak (8:9). He appeals to the religious sensitivity of the mature Christians to respect the vulnerable conscience of their younger brothers in faith and to sacrifice even their legitimate right (eating of food even if offered to idols) so as not to be a cause of sin to the weak brothers for after all Jesus also died for them (cf. 8:11). However, Paul is not a leader long in commands and short in example. He is not a kind of a preacher who is quick to demand discipline from others and so slow to perform personal sacrifices. No, He is a leader who walks the talk. He leads by way of example. To be a very convincing in his demand for sacrifice from the mature believers, Paul, for his part, in total freedom and liberty (cf. 9:1) forfeits the benefits and perks that should have come with his being the founder of the Corinthian church;he willfully renounces the special rights that should have come with his being the spiritual father of the believers of Corinth. While it was a right for the apostles to be accompanied by their lawful wife in their ministry, (9:5) Paul preferred none; while it was legal for preachers to get their living by the gospel (9:14), Paul chose to work for his keep (9:6). Since he had demanded from his believers to sacrifice even what was legitimate, Paul on the other hand, showed to them by example reneging material benefits and claims that come with him being their founder and spiritual father.

Raymond Collins, First Corinthians, in Sacra Pagina 7 (Collegeville, Minnesota: 1999). The author opines that Paul is quoting a slogan among some Corinthian believers to defend their radical individualism.

For Paul to proclaim the gospel of Jesus was nothing but an obligation. It was a responsibility conferred on him; and he is not supposed to reject it but do it to his best. If there is one valid reward for preaching the gospel, it was the very obligation itself. The prize he gets for preaching the gospel is that he proclaims it free of charge (9:18).In his preaching he has the following wishes that after having preached the Gospel, he might not be disqualified from the Gospel (9:27) but might share in its blessing (9:23).

LeadersNeeded Today

Like Paul, we need leaders who love their people more than their position and possession. Leaders, who, in times of conflict, do not put forward their personal agenda at the expense of the community s unity and solidarity. On the contrary, we need leaders who are promoters of a common vision and goal and are capable of rallying even those of dissenting opinion to a common task and effort. We need leaders who do not prioritize their personal profit but secure first what is most beneficial to the greater community served.We don t need officials who dip their hands in the government coffers so as to send their children abroad for schooling. We have no need of leaders who misappropriate country development funds for their private haciendas and resorts. We don t need euro general. Like Paul the leader, we are very much in need of one who has in the top of the list of priorities the other person the people. Like Paul, we are much in need of leaders of upright moral standing. Today, the easiest way to popularity is through scandal. The shortest cut to fame is by behaving dishonorably. We do not necessarily need the famous or the popular. We need models of right living; leaders who truly are themselves the salt of the earth (Mat 5:13) and ...light of the world (Mat 5:14).

We still need to see a mayor or a governor or even a president who takes as a reward for the fulfillment of his obligations the very same responsibility he or she is tasked with. We still need to hear 7

of a mayor who pours his wealth for the development of the city because the people he served and the city he lived in and will eventually remain in his retirement years are his same reward and price. There are still a lot more leadership qualities that can be deduced from the letter of Paul. Each time the communities of Paul went through difficulties and in every instance that Paul intervened, either through emissaries or through his letters, he reveals not only his leadership potentials and skills but most importantly the very heart and life of Paul.

The modern-day Onesimus Onesimus was much blessed to have witnessedPaul-- his zeal, passion, moral integrity and love for people. Because of what he saw and heard, a life much influenced by Paul is formed in him. Our own wish is to be privileged enough to have a modern-day Paul for our mentor and model so that a modern-day Onesimus be formed in us too.

Fr. Leander V. Barrot, OAR San Sebastian College-Recoletos, Manila March 4, 2009