Allow Yourself the Grace to Evolve

For many of us, the Apostle Paul is a challenging figure - in Christian history or when we go to pick up and read our Bibles. We may associate him with “clobber texts” used so often in discussions of sexuality or with arguments around submission and traditional gender roles in church, marriage and society in general.

Put simply, mention of Paul’s name makes some of us cringe.

Our friend Rebekah Martinek-Williams, who graciously agreed to preach with Brenna this past Sunday, wrestled with all of that. Yet she ended up wondering, what if Paul is just as complicated, as human and flawed and in process, as I am? I have positions I used to hold and have re-thought now. I have patterns of behavior I don’t love and am still unlearning, still practicing how to do better. Am I short-changing Paul?

After all, Paul is also the guy who wrote this radical-for-his-time-and-personal-history statement:

There is no longer Jew or Greek,
        there is no longer slave or free,
        there is no longer male or female;
        for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
        And if you belong to Christ … .   (Galatians 3:27-29a)

Paul changes. He grows, he evolves. So do we.

Could looking at Paul as someone with a complicated and human story be an invitation to viewing yourself that way as well? What have you been rethinking and unlearning? How is God meeting you graciously, lovingly, in those places? Are you allowing that grace in?

Let’s talk about these things with Jesus for a moment.