by Pastor Rich Carlson

The second of the prison letters is a very short one, containing only one chapter. Philemon, the recipient of the letter, owned a run-away slave named Onesimus. The letter to Philemon is mostly about the slave becoming a servant of God and Paul’s request that Philemon accept him back not as a slave, who should and could be punished by death as a thief and a runaway, but as a new brother in Christ who had run into an encounter with the Lord, and had been changed by it.

That’s a pretty daring request considering the value of slaves in those days. But greater than property is the gift of properly valuing a soul—seeing the individual as a child of God.

Now for today’s verse. Philemon 6 says, "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." That’s an impressive promise. When I am active in sharing my faith, I will receive a full understanding of every good thing I have in Christ.

Colossians 4:5 says, "be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every situation." I am called to be a faithful witness and to do it wisely—in every situation. It would be nice to know how to be that kind of witness.

A definition is actually given in the next verse. "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt" (4:6). From these verses I conclude that wise witnessing is conversation and that all my conversations should be "full of grace." My everyday words should be so full of kindness and goodness that they will illustrate God’s grace. My normal communications need to be "seasoned with salt," so that what I say is appealing and inviting.

Paul asked Philemon to demonstrate his grace-filled witness by offering words of forgiveness and acceptance to his runaway slave. Paul illustrated his grace-filled witness by offering to pay any debts the slave had incurred in his time away.

Witnessing is not so much what I do as who I am. It’s not so much "going out" to find someone to convince of truth as it is living my life in such a wise and grace-filled way that it will be the answer that everyone is looking for. People will say, "Oh, so that is what Jesus is like!"

Don’t preach to me, live for me. Don’t tell me what to do, show me how to do it. Don’t be right, be connected to Jesus. Don’t try and do something to me, do something for me—live like Jesus!"

Rich Carlson is campus chaplain at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. “God Is Faithful” is adapted from the email devotionals he writes regularly for the Union College family. Rich enjoys filling his life with God, his family, and especially his five grandchildren.