(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. Philemon 1:11-14
Last time, we looked at the magnitude of Paul’s request to Philemon in allowing Onesimus to return to him, and the stark contrast between what may be a legal right and what is spiritually right for a professing Christian.
Today, we pick up in verse 11 where Paul is still laying out his case in asking Philemon to not only receive Onesimus back, but also to forgive him and accept him as a brother in Christ. And in this verse, we see Paul use a play on words that is only evident in the Greek.
Onesimus’ name in Greek means “useful”, yet Paul says that “formerly he was useless to you,”speaking to the fact that he had abandoned him and run away. But now that Onesimus has been saved, Paul says, “he is indeed useful to you and to me.”
In this we find an important lesson. Just like Onesimus was a slave of Philemon, we are slaves of Christ (He bought and paid for us with His blood), and a runaway slave of Christ is just as useless to the Kingdom of God as a runaway slave is to his earthly master. So we must stay close to Christ, remain obedient and diligent to do our Master’s requests, serving well and with all our heart, and thereby remaining useful to accomplish the work He has for us to do.
Paul then goes on to tell Philemon, “I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel.” All things considered, I can imagine Onesimus would have liked to stay with Paul too, knowing the potential penalty he may have faced returning to Philemon, but without seeking permission, that wouldn’t have been right. Here we see Paul’s humility shine through – he forsakes what would have been a great blessing to ensure that Philemon was treated fairly. Paul was surely worse off than Philemon and he could have easily allowed Onesimus to quietly serve him instead, but when we cut corners or cheat others, even if it looks fair on paper, it does not honor God nor does it bless us. Like Paul, we must always do the right thing, even if we are disadvantaged.
Paul says, “I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.” Again, Paul is not exercising his apostolic authority over Philemon, but is instead asking him to do this because it is also the right thing to do. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul wrote, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” While we are biblically commanded to do what is right and to give generously, it does us no good to do so begrudgingly or out of obligation. We owe everything to God; nothing truly belongs to us, not even our own lives. What pleases Him most is a heart that delights in obedience.
When we are fully surrendered to the Lord, doing the right thing no longer feels like sacrifice but instead feels like worship. The Spirit transforms duty into joy and compulsion into compassion. That’s what Paul asked to see in Philemon, and it’s what Christ desires to see in each of us, that our goodness, forgiveness, and generosity would flow freely from hearts captivated by His grace, making each of us a “useful” Onesimus in service to the Lord. Let’s aim to walk so closely with Christ that every act of obedience becomes a willing expression of love for the One who first loved us.