We’d all like that – and Paul was no exception. He didn’t enjoy scolding people, Nor did he like people taking advantage of him and thinking they could take him down when they had the chance to meet him face to face (2 Corinthians 10.1-3). It is understandable that when Paul was looking forward to visiting the Christian believers in Rome, he hoped they would be able to meet without any unpleasantness (Romans 15.32). He wanted to meet them in a happy frame of mind. See the REB.
We can say that Paul was only human when he expressed himself in this way – and it is true that the humanity of a servant of Christ was on display wherever he went. But he was a man carrying vast responsibilities and the jarring disputes that inevitably came his way affected him as it might any man having to keep a wayward collection of people focused on their prime duty. It made great demands on his patience. It took its toll of his energy and capacity for work.
None of us has any comparable burden to bear. His undoubted influence on the course of European and world history makes him exceptional. And he exercised that influence without the kind of physical force or coercion that Augustus or Napoleon found necessary. He was, of course, following the example set by Jesus. He was involved in disputes. His authority was questioned. The Christian faith might well have found itself at an early stage cornered and restricted like any minority movement that is here today and gone tomorrow. But that did not happen and in down-to-earth terms Paul was largely responsible for that.
Paul would have been the first to say that the grace of God was the dynamic in the situation that changed everything. Despite human frailty and waywardness, despite concerns for status and recognition, despite outright defiance, the Christian movement prospered and spread across the Mediterranean world. Some people had their self-esteem damaged. Some fell by the wayside. This new thing, Christianity, had come to stay and the world is different as a result.
FORTY YEARS’ DEVELOPMENT
All Saints’ church, Preston-on-Tees came into being in 1902 as a church hall. Over the next 40 years it was extended and reorganised until it became, amongst other things, the first church in the Durham diocese ot have solar panels. It has a full programme with a ministry team led by Matt Levinsohn and supports numerous charities plus two workers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It engagingly says of itself: ‘We don’t get everything right but we believe in God’s amazing grace.’
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