Try thinking theologically

What does life teach you about God? To think about God is to think theologically. This can be a little tricky at first as we can get bogged down in untheological ways of thinking. Try an exercise in theological thinking. The New Testament book of Philemon is just 25 verses long. Looking at this often-neglected book a few different ways reveals how thinking theologically is different.

We could look at Philemon at the level of a story. The general outline is that Onesimus was a slave who ran away from his owner Philemon. The apostle Paul, who knows Philemon and his wife by reputation at least, writes the letter we now know as the Book of Philemon in an attempt to intercede for the slave Onesimus. Paul asks the slave owner to treat the returned slave well. Onesimus had come to Paul in prison asking Paul to help him out of a jam. Paul instead shared the Gospel with Onesimus. The runaway slave came to faith in God through the person of Jesus Christ. Then Paul asked the runaway slave to return to his owner Philemon. Paul then gave Onesimus a letter to take to Philemon, challenging him to see the runaway slave differently as he was now a baptized Christian.

We could look at Philemon politically. The stability of Rome depended on the slave system. Anyone who spoke against that slave system was a threat to the Roman Empire. If Paul spoke or wrote openly about overthrowing slavery, his words could target Christianity as a threat to Rome. Paul takes a different approach. Instead of taking on the political structure of Rome, Paul asks Christian leader to Christian leader for Philemon and Apphia to treat Onesimus as they would treat Paul.

We could also approach Philemon from a historical perspective. We could learn more about slavery in the Roman Empire. We would learn that the Roman Empire depended as much on its slave system as the plantation system in the southern United States would later depend on slave labor. However, unlike the slavery that existed much later in this country, there was no race-based dimension to Roman slavery. You could own people of your own ethnic background as a slave. Romans considered slaves intelligent enough to elevate some to positions of trust, including overseeing a master’s entire household. Slaves were property, and as such were bought and sold. Of course, many if not most slaves were treated extremely cruelly during the Roman Empire. Slave escapes were a common problem. Slaves were branded to help prevent this problem. In addition, Roman law permitted slave owners to kill runaway slaves.

From a historical perspective, we could also learn about a Bishop of Ephesus named Onesimus (a common slave name, it meant “useful”) and the long tradition that connects that Bishop Onesimus to the Onesimus of our story. It would seem that Philemon and Apphia did take Paul’s hint and free their former slave. Further we see that Onesimus rose in respect in the early church to become a leader in one of the great cities of the Roman Empire.

Do you see how we could approach this one 25-verse letter from many perspectives? How would a theological perspective be different? If we are thinking theologically, we read the letter, aware of the literary, rhetorical, historical, and other concerns but letting those concerns go. Instead, we reflect on the letter asking, “What does the letter to Philemon tell us about God?”

This little letter has much to say about God. Here is the main thing that I notice. Paul uses a very godly approach to Philemon in his appeal for Onesimus. Paul’s use of naming is particularly important. Paul sees everyone involved through the lens of scripture and the event of baptism. Paul sees that saving knowledge of Jesus and the transformation of baptism as changing everything.

Paul names the runaway slave Onesimus as one who was useless who is now useful. Paul calls Onesimus as his own heart. Then Paul challenges Philemon to think of Onesimus, not as a slave, but as his own beloved brother.

The fact that the letter was preserved, together with an ancient tradition of Onesimus going on to be a Bishop of Ephesus, show Paul understood God rightly. Onesimus came through Paul to see himself as God already saw him. Then, not just Philemon and Apphia, but the whole church gathered in their household, came to accept Onesimus as the transformed Christian he was. They allowed Onesimus to be changed and in time, to lead the church.

Thinking theologically about Philemon shows us that God sees more potential for our lives than we do. Are you willing to live into the potential God wants to release in your life? How about the other people in your life? Are you willing to let God transform them? Or do you want to hold them back, limiting them to your understanding of who they are and what they can become?

God looks at people who see themselves as rejects, as useless, and God loves them. God is always willing to transform a useless person into someone who is a valued, useful member of his or her community. Our challenge is to let go of all the other thoughts long enough to see the people around us through the lens of scripture and baptism as Paul did, as God does. Then we see ourselves, and the people around us, as transformed by God’s love.

Try looking at the world with theological eyes. What does what you see, read, or experience teach you about God. Once you clear the clutter of other ways of looking at things, you may find thinking theologically gives you a fresh approach to the familiar.

(The Rev. Frank Logue is pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland.) 

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