September 4, 2022

Philemon 6 (NIV)

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

We must put into practice what we have come to know.*

I’m a little surprised that Paul would expect Philemon to be active in sharing his faith before he has “a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Shouldn’t he pray that his friend would be actively seeking understanding before he starts to share his faith? Apparently, Paul’s expectations differ from mine. Instead of encouraging Philemon (and us) to study and prepare until we feel ready to share our faith, he seems to think we should just Do It!

Maybe he’s right. Well, he’s Paul – of course he’s right. No matter how much we know, knowledge is not faith. Academic knowledge is not personal experience. Sharing what we know from reading about living a life of faith will never be as effective as our testimony about actually living it.

That makes sense. I can’t introduce you to someone I’ve only read about, but I can present you to a friend with whom I have a history. But how does this testimony-sharing translate to a full understanding? Putting what we know into practice solidifies our knowledge. In one writer’s words: “The practice of convictions deepens convictions; not that the exercise of Christian graces will make theologians, but it will give larger possession of the knowledge which is life.”* Reading the procedure manual is important; being thoroughly familiar with the material is critical; but when you start applying what you know, it becomes a part of you and your story. That’s when you start to have that full understanding Paul wanted for Philemon.

Telling the old, old story comes easiest to those of us who live it.*