GOSPEL MESSAGE & RECORDING
In the Pauline Epistle today, we hear of how the Apostle Paul was called by God to preach the Gospel. He writes in Galatians 1: 11 that the gospel that he preached was given to him not by men, but by the revelation of God. That is, he was, in a sense, called directly by God, in a unique way, that was particular to his calling as an evangelist and apostle. He is very specific about mentioning this to the Galatian church, who he is writing to, to let them know that he is a legitimate apostle, and not someone who free-lancing the gospel for personal gain. Additionally, and more importantly for this message, St. Paul is expressing his calling as something very important to him. Why does he emphasize his individual calling with such unabashed zeal? For St. Paul, a person who is in Christ, who is created in the image and likeness of God, (Gen. 1:27) has a “uniqueness” that is specific to their calling. This uniqueness comes in the form of gifts, talents, and virtues. (1 Cor. 12: 4-11) Further, there is something special about each Christian that makes their contribution to the Kingdom of God extremely unique.
We as Christians have a uniqueness about us and no one should be able to suppress that. St. Paul was on “fire” for the Lord. He had a “charismatic” zeal that set him apart from the rest of the Apostles. Though the “original” apostles themselves might have tried to tame his zeal and other Christians may have questioned his apostleship, he maintained his uniqueness until the end of his life.
As Christians, we are all born “unique.” There is something special about us. No two people are the same. It is our differences that make us stand out. It is what makes our contribution to the church special. Sometimes, people want us to conform and change because we have to fit into a certain mold. God does not want us to suppress our individual uniqueness but to use it in the right way for the glory of his kingdom.
“Individual uniqueness” is not a license to live life the way we want, or to choose a lifestyle that is contrary to biblical standards. Nor does it mean that we gravitate toward our passions or proclivities. In short, if it is sin, then it is not individual uniqueness, but rather, individual pride.
After St. Paul demonstrates this idea of individualism, he goes on to write that after preaching the gospel for 3 years, he finally went to Jerusalem and met with Peter and James. This point is made explicitly clear because the apostles who were stationed in Jerusalem were the leaders of the early church. Ideally, St. Paul, after having received the revelation of Christ while on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, should have gone to Jerusalem, shown himself to the apostles, and received their blessing. But he didn’t do that! Rather, he focused on what he had to do as an apostle, and then when the time was right, he went to Jerusalem and received the blessings from Peter and James. But notice that he eventually went to Jerusalem to receive their blessing. This teaches us that even though we have an “individualism” about us—individual uniqueness without the consideration of others, and in St. Paul’s case, the early church leaders can turn into pride, sin, and self-centeredness. We can even suppose that if St. Paul did not go to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and James, he would not have been successful in his mission.
The Orthodox Church is the place where God wants us to operate in our area of gifting because it is the true church. I am often saddened, firstly, that the church is not more open to certain individuals who have the gift of healing, prophesying, and preaching. Secondly, at the same time, I am even more saddened that people with such gifting leave the church and do things on their own. I believe there is room for us all in the Orthodox church to be who we truly are as individuals but at the same time adherent to the traditions and liturgical life of the church.
St. Paul refers to this as the parts of the body. All the parts of the body are unique in their way, but together they make up the body. We are all unique, but together we make up the body of Christ, which is the Church.
We need to think about ourselves and what we need; that is, we need to take care of our bodies and our mental condition if we are going to take care of others. But at the same time, when God has given us so much and provided for us in terms of career, family, and influence, we must think about the “collective” group—those who are a part of our community and society--the needy and suffering.
From a socio-political perspective, there are some Christians who promote “collectivism” and discard the value of “individualism.” And this happens the other way around as well. A good society, or rather a system of governance, values the individual and the collective group as equally important.
In summary, let us all maintain our individual uniqueness but work within the parish and our community with love and compassion to witness the Gospel of Christ. This principle can also be applied to our personal life as well as our socio-economic and government systems.