Not by Compulsion

I was reading Philemon. Not one of my favorite epistles. It's short, sure, but it's mostly personal. Philemon was a fellow believer and a slave owner. One of his slaves, Onesimus, had run away. He had ended up in Paul's life. Paul refers to him as "my child" and himself as his father (Phm 1:10), so Onesimus came to Christ through Paul while Paul was imprisoned. And after a time, Paul was sending him back. He hoped Philemon would be kind to him, to treat him as a beloved brother (Phm 1:16). Paul said that he had the right to command it (Phm 1:8), but he wouldn't "in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord" (Phm 1:14).

Well, now, that's interesting, isn't it? Paul indicates that he had the right to command "goodness." Of course, it would still be Philemon who did it, but if Paul commanded it Philemon's "goodness" would be because he had to and that would not be as beneficial as the alternative. What is truly beneficial is when goodness comes of your own accord rather than by compulsion.

Think of the child that cleans her room because you insisted versus the one that cleans her own room because she thought it would be a good thing to do. Which is better? How does that play out when, for instance, the government decides to raise your taxes in order to give help to the poor? Surely giving help to the poor is good, but wouldn't it be better if we did it of our own accord rather than by compulsion? I've had people conclude that I think homosexual behavior and so-called "gay marriage" should be outlawed. They're wrong. I think that goodness should be of your own accord rather than by compulsion. How many other things do we push by way of coercion rather than allowing them to choose to do the right thing?

Paul told Philemon, "Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ" (Phm 1:20). That's what you get when people do good of their own accord rather than by compulsion. Mind you, doing good is good, even if it is by compulsion. Good laws and good instructions are good things. It's just that it is so much more beneficial -- beneficial to the person, to the recipients, to the observers, and even to the Lord -- when we do good because we want to and not just because we're supposed to. But that, of course, requires a changed heart. So my prayer is always, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psa 51:10).