The Boasting Priest

Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. (Romans 15:17)

but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:24)

As I think back on the history of Paul in his earlier years among the proud Pharisees and priests, I find it interesting that he occasionally talks in his letters about this issue of boasting. But each time he does so it is always in reference to his relationship with Jesus. And usually the things he chooses to boast about are the exact opposite of what were likely the subjects of boasting before his conversion.

Paul came from a background of high educational achievements, great skill in persuasive abilities and second to none in his ability to maneuver himself around politically. He had all the inside connections to accomplish his goals and used them efficiently to exploit Christians who, in his eyes were the enemies of the nation. He was the champion of his people, fiercely loyal, patriotic and orthodox to the extreme when it came to religion. He was a man insisting on law and order and was more zealous than anyone else in employing every means possible to eliminate all who might pose a threat to the purity and high standards of the Jewish religion and nation.

He followed the path of duty and patriotism far beyond what other men had done who were compromised by corruption and greed. He was educated as a student of the best teachers of the time and took very seriously everything they taught him. He was a student that made his teachers proud and was conscientious in his pursuit of obedience to God. He was so careful to follow all the rules and teachings of the Jews based on the laws given to Moses by God that he felt very confident that he must be on God's side.

But what he overlooked and even repressed repeatedly was the inner voice of his heart that was sending quite different messages to his mind and conscience. Since these were in conflict with everything that he had been taught and firmly believed must be done in order to be saved, he continued to fight off that gentle voice of conviction that refused to leave him alone.

What particularly disturbed him deep inside was the unexpected expressions of peace and even joy on the faces of those that he used vicious force against in his attempts to bring them into conformity to the religion of their culture. They would even pray for him and treat him with politeness while he was arranging their demise. It seemed that no matter how much intimidation and fear he tried to induce in people's hearts by his threats and increasingly violent assaults on this growing band of dissenters and “agitators”, they only seemed to proliferate and spread in popularity. This was very baffling to him since it went contrary to everything he believed about how to bring about unity in the name of God.

The methods he used trying to enforce conformity to the traditions and customs of religion were well established from centuries of practice. Religion was considered by most to be the careful exercise of all the routines and external practices handed down from Moses and the elders throughout the history of their “church”. Everything that was taught was carefully screened through the system of leadership that governed their religion and the greatest goal of the leaders was to bring about unity through perfect obedience to all of God's requirements. What could possibly be wrong with such a noble desire?

Saul, which was his name before he became a Christian, was all too familiar with boasting. Even his name harked back to the very first king of Israel who also was from the tribe of Benjamin, just like he was. Saul was proud of his roots, proud of his tribe even though it was one of the smallest in Israel, and proud of his religious devotion to “the truth”. And he was not alone in his pride. In the halls of power and influence in which he circulated there was plenty of pride and boasting going on among the priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees and scribes of the law.

Everyone believed that national pride was not only the right thing to have but was extremely important given the oppression and threats to their national identity. The Jews were suffering under the ruthless domination of the Romans, and now a new threat had emerged to undermine and weaken their pursuit of national unity and religious culture. A group of people from within his own countrymen were advocating opposite values than what was generally accepted and were drawing away the hearts and minds of thousands of Jews weakening the influence of the leaders in power and in their minds threatening the stability of Israel's very existence.

But after years of intense pursuit of patriotic fervor and protracted campaigns to achieve national unity through coercion, Paul was finally arrested himself by a confrontation with the real truth that had been keeping his inner heart in turmoil for much of his life. He had tried unsuccessfully to ignore this growing pain by increasing his religious fervor and keeping himself ever more busy in religious activities. But at the most unexpected times and places he would be repeatedly confronted with feelings and compelling concepts that contradicted what he had always insisted had to be the truth. He had tried to ignore these feelings as simply suggestions of the evil one, but finally he came face to face with the overwhelming power of gentleness and love that he could no longer hide from.

When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' (Acts 26:14 NRSV)

Up to this point he had trusted in the power of pride and boasting to enhance his public image. It was the way of all the world and everything else was considered weakness and timidity. Meekness was scorned as weakness and humility was not even worth talking about. What they believed their nation needed was more boldness and assertiveness and even raw power to overcome their enemies and become the world's rulers as they believed their prophets had promised. They were desperate for God to finally appear in full force to help them conquer their enemies, publicly humiliating everyone who stood against their religion and forever establishing their teachings as the rule of law for all the world.

But after coming face to face with the radical nature of real heart religion through the presence of Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul, now turned Paul, had to rethink everything he had ever been taught, everything he had ever read in the Scriptures and every assumption that he had cherished about reality. All of his world was now in question and everything he had always thought was of great importance now seemed to be turned on its head. In the face of this overwhelming reversal of what he perceived as reality he had to take significant time to be retooled in the school of Christ. So he spent three years in the desert alone with God to give his heart time to grow and mature and recover from all the years of abuse and suppression and unlearn many of the things he was taught during years of formal education.

The place this likely happened was actually the same place where Moses had spent significant time and where Elijah had gone to meet with God and get his head straightened out. It was in the desert of Saudi Arabia where Mount Sinai sits, where repeatedly God has met with humans to reveal the real truths about Himself. As Paul meditated on the completely new view of reality suddenly opened up to his mind through the eyes of his changed heart, he took on a new spirit, a new attitude, a whole new nature. He learned what it means to abide in Christ.

One of the things that Paul came to realize was his need to avoid at all costs his reliance on boasting to prop up his public image. He was now learning how to be real instead of managing a carefully manicured public facade and this was a whole new experience for him. Learning to live real and from the heart is a terrifying prospect for a person who has spent their whole life in image management. But it is a most important step to take if one wants to truly experience the daily presence of God in their lives. So Paul became very careful to leave off all of his old dependence on boasting and drawing attention to his personal achievements to enhance what people might think about him. What became important now was only what God thought about him and to fix his attention on the amazing realities of the almost unbelievable truths about God's goodness and grace and compassion.

As Paul's heart and mind became filled with awareness of the goodness of God, he also became filled with a completely new motivation that was even stronger than the nationalistic pride and religious fervor that had marked his previous years. He now began to feel the passion that burns in God's heart, a passion that causes a fire in the bones of those who draw close to Him, a desire to cooperate with God's passion to draw confused, deceived sinners back into a saving relationship with heaven. The more Paul's heart became reflective of heaven's spirit, the more he desired to share the real truth about God with everyone he met. And boasting had no place in this new life of passion for God.

But as seen in this passage from Jeremiah, God says that there is one place where true boasting is actually beneficial. And occasionally Paul indulged himself in this kind of boasting. For legitimate boasting involves sharing with others the amazing truths about God's goodness, His lovingkindness, His justice and His righteousness. True religion always points the hearts of people to the heart of the Father in who's image they have been created. And true boasting may at times be seen in one who is filled with devotion, sharing the real truth about God with a world that is swimming in lies about Him.

So even though Paul did not qualify as an earthly priest because he was not born a Levite, he found himself acting as a true priest in the family of Jesus sharing the true good news about God and interceding on God's behalf for the reconciliation of His children with the heart of the Father. This is the true work of a real priest, to bring together the heart of God with the hearts of His children. And this happens to also be the work of Elijah according to the prophecy in Malachi. This is what we will once again begin to see happen with power in these last days.

"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)

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