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Who do you think you are? (Ephesians 2:1-10)
There is a wonderful piece of dialogue in one
of Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes adventures. Holmes has handed his visiting
card to an aristocrat, a Lord, who, staring hard at the card declares,
"Baker Street? 221? B? Hardly an address designed to inspire confidence."
Holmes, without missing a beat replies, "I have more than enough confidence
in myself. I do not need to inspire it in others."
Somewhat arrogant you might think but you know there is something rare
and wonderfully liberating about knowing exactly who you are, and something
distressing and fearfully confining and limiting in the uncertainty
of not knowing.
In his letter to believers in Corinth Paul, introduced himself as:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of
God…
In writing to Christians in Galatia he wrote:
Paul, an apostle - sent not from men
nor by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father…
And he begins his letter to Rome:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…
Paul was not, however, an arrogant man and had no illusions about his
own shortcomings. This much is clear from the "Jars of Clay" passage
in 2 Corinthians 4. He was also aware of the need for further discipline
in his own life, as expressed in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Paul did know
who he was, however, and the basis on which he could write confidently
about his calling as an apostle. Again to Corinth he wrote:
We, however, will not boast beyond proper
limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned
to us… (2 Corinthians 10:13)
Paul was an apostle. He knew the task to which God had called him.
Paul was certain that his calling was from God and not men. His commission
was from Jesus Christ and from God the Father.
Paul was not arrogant but knew that his calling was to servanthood to
Jesus Christ and his body the Church.
Paul knew that it was the gospel that defined his calling and that to
this end he was set apart.
There were those who mocked his calling, accusing him of some sort of
religious mania (you can read about it in 1 Corinthians 5:13). But Paul
knew that he had met the Lord and been called to serve him.
We too, who are Christians, are called to proclaim the Good News of
Jesus Christ, to train and discipline ourselves to his service and to
show in our lives who we are in him. Who do you think you are? How would
you introduce yourself? I am sure you would not use the flowery language
of the Bible but do you have Paul's confidence to boast in the limits
of the field to which God has called you? Can you confidently declare
that you are, "A Christian, a servant of Jesus Christ, by the will
of God, sent not from men nor by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the
Father, set apart for the gospel of God"? I pray this may be you
this week.