Spirituality According to Paul

Emily and I have both finished our semesters (and the entirety of her in-classroom time in PA school for Emily) and are excited about having free time again. Because I'm a nerd, I cannot wait to get into several different books I will be starting. Normally, I don't like to read various books at the same time, but there are just so many things I'm interested in. One book is my professor from SBU Dr. Rodney Reeves' new book "Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ" published by IVP. It came out in the Fall, and I have been waiting to read it for weeks now. I decided to try book reviewing on my blog, and I hope I can be consistent. So, here is my first edition of the book review.

What is exciting about Reeves' new book is that he frames his discussion of Paul in a way that I have only recently come to understand. As I expressed in previous posts, both within my application paper of 1 Peter 2 and in my discussion of revenge, Christians are meant to imitate Jesus and his Gospel, not just believe. We all understand that Christian faith is not simply a matter of intellectual assent. Belief entails more than stating that you accept Christian propositions as truth. James tells us that even the demons believe! Confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord means that he is both your sacrifice and your master. However, within our individualistic, conversion-oriented culture, people find it quite difficult to understand how and even why they should live in obedience to Jesus. If I'm saved, who cares how I live. Our usual response is that the Bible says so. I'm willing to accept this answer. However, I was annoyed when my parents said, "Because I said so," and I don't find it to be a wise pedagogical (teaching) method for spiritual growth.

Thus, when I began to realize that Peter was telling his converts in 1 Peter 2 that they were supposed to live out Christ's story in their own lives, a light bulb flashed on. I began to understand that the idea of imitating Christ could be a framework for spiritual growth. People are story oriented and could be tought to see the entirety of Jesus' life as THE example for Christian living.

I say all that to say that when I read Reeves' preface and introduction, I was hooked. Dr. Reeves sees in Paul's life the very thing I have just argued for: imitating Jesus. Reeves suggests that the way we can "apply" Paul's letters to our own lives is by learning to imitate the apostle... who imitated Jesus. Paul "lived the Gospel" and when we wrestle with his letters, "he becomes our mentor, a life worth imitating." (10-11) Dr. Reeves notes that all believers necessarily imitate someone in their approach to their faith and growth, whether a pastor, parent, or mentor. But, what if we let Paul be our mentor?

The strange thing about Paul is that he didn't have direct connection to Jesus like the 12 Disciples. Yet, Paul taught that he himself had participated in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, connecting him in a very special way with Jesus. Therefore, Paul was not obligated to share direct teachings from Jesus' ministry or talk about his miracles or healings. Instead, Paul could preach the Gospel by saying, "Look at me!" Paul imitated Jesus and he wanted his converts to do the same, through the empowering and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Yet, imitating Christ does not mean acting EXACTLY as he did. Paul's audience members were not meant to go to Galilee and work with fisherman... and so on. Just as imitating the batting style of Albert Pujols will make me a better batter even though nobody expects me to actually play in the World Series, so imitating Jesus is not necessarily about recreating his exact circumstances.

So, Paul used his letters to define which actions of Paul (and Jesus) Christians ARE meant to imitate. Reeves suggests that this theme is "why Paul wrote letters." (16) I would assume Dr. Reeves does not mean that the entirety of all of Paul's letters falls under the theme of imitation. For me, the idea of imitation is (the best) one of many ways to frame spirituality and growth. But, I'm not sure every letter can be squeezed into this box. But, I'd love to be convinced otherwise! We'll see where the rest of the book takes us.

-Matt