Speaking Truth

For those of you who do not know there is an ongoing debate about the Apostle Paul's marital status. There are some who believe that given the culture of the day it would have been very likely that Paul would have been married before his conversation experience on the Damascus Road. Those who hold to this belief further believe that the thorn in Paul's side was the fact that his wife never became a follower of Jesus. The other side of this debate simply states that we have no biblical evidence to support the notion that Paul was married. In essence, they say that if he has been married we would find some indication of it in the New Testament. I personally lean towards the idea that Paul was married but I would not stake my life on it.

I find this debate to be an interesting one because it inevitably leads to a discussion of whether or not a personal can addresses issues such as marriage if one has never been married. In other words, it calls in to question a person's ability to speak truth in to someone else's life. I am of the opinion that while experience is good and can be valuable it is not necessary when speak ing truth to someone. This means that a single person can speak truth to a married person about marriage. I believe this to be possible because of the Holy Spirit. Too often though we forget about the Spirit's power and ignore others simply because they have obviously never been in our exact situation (ergo how could they possibly understand my situation and my life).

I also think that we too often assume things about people and their past. We tend to think we know someone by what we see in them now. We forget that who a person is now may be radically different from who they were. Who knows, you may meet a woman someday who lives in a well to do neighborhood who used to be a drug addict and a prostitute.

In the end, we must stop assuming we know people simply by how they look and act now and must take the time to get to know them and actually learn who they are. On the other hand, we must also remember that just because a person has never been through our exact situation does not mean they cannot provide us with wisdom and guidance.