Paul was wrong. And that's ok.

Years ago, while I was in seminary, I took a theology class with Dr. Samuel Solivan. During one of our discussions he showed us a Peanuts comic strip. I know, I did not expect it either. In it, Charlie Brown hears Snoopy is writing a book on theology, and after asking about the title, the witty dog answers: “I have the perfect title: Has it ever occurred to you that you might be wrong”. Trust me, I learned a lot from Dr Solivan, but I will never forget what Snoopy taught me that night. How easy is for any of us to go about life and never truly consider we might be wrong about all kinds of stuff. Including God. 

This reminded me of Paul.

I think it is safe to say that other than Jesus, the apostle Paul is the go-to guy when you’re trying to prove your point in an argument about doctrine or theology. He traveled all around the Roman Empire preaching to Jews and Gentiles about the good news of Jesus Christ. Churches were planted, leaders were developed, believers were taught. He also wrote letters to some of those communities to deal with issues about what it meant to live as disciples of Jesus in their context. He was something else.

But, it wasn’t always that way. 

Paul had been very religious all his life. He grew up as a Jew, he learned all the stories, he knew all the answers regarding judaism. That meant he knew everything about God.  Nonetheless, he hated Jesus and everything he and his band of delinquent followers stood for. A dirty fly in the pure milk of the true religion of the people of God. He even went as far as to describe himself as “faultless” in the observance of the law. 

Faultless. Really, Paul?

To his point, he knew the Scriptures like the back of his hand. So it seemed he was right about all things God. Having learned from the best teachers, he was a promising leader, an enforcer of the will of the Almighty. And for him, those belonging to the Way (referring to Jesus’ followers) were blasphemous rebels, and deserved to be arrested and, in some cases, put to death. 

If you are not familiar with the story, go ahead and take a look. You can find it in the book of Acts, chapter 9.

So, faultless Paul was on his way to defend his god and his faith and persecute all those ignorant people, when a light  and a voice from heaven violently interrupted his journey. He fell to the ground and was left blind. A powerful, proud man brought to his knees. A very vulnerable and even dangerous position to be in.

The voice said: “why do you persecute me?” Still trying to figure out what was happening, Paul asked “Who are you?”. Then the bomb was dropped. It was none other than Jesus (yes, the resurrected and ascended Jesus). In other words, God was stopping Paul and telling him: “You are wrong”.

Has anyone ever told you that? I don’t know about you, but I hate it. Especially when I’m  convinced I’m right. Even more so when I’ve worked hard to convince others as well. 

You see, we are addicted to being right. Oh yeah, it’s a thing. 

CEO and author Judith Glaser explains: “When you argue and win, your brain floods with different hormones: adrenaline and dopamine, which makes you feel good, dominant, even invincible. It’s a the feeling any of us would want to replicate. So the next time we’re in a tense situation, we fight again. We get addicted to being right.” https://hbr.org/2013/02/break-your-addiction-to-being

Paul was used to being right. He loved it. He was addicted to it. Until he met Jesus. 

It’s ok to be wrong. That’s just part of being human. And when we realize and accept we’re wrong, we get to a place where we can learn, correct, grow. 

This is definitely not easy, because to be proved wrong can feel as violent as someone knocking you down to the ground. It feels like defeat, like death. 

Jesus knows a thing or two about death.  And he also knows about resurrection. Actually there can be no resurrection without death. 

So if something dies when we are wrong, be glad! Resurrection is coming. New life, new understanding. Just like that seed Jesus talked about. Maybe that area in which you are wrong is like a kernel. 

And “unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (John 12:23-25)

Back to Paul, he realized he was wrong. He was wrong about God, about Jesus, about people, and about himself. The great thing about it is that God not only exposes his wrongness, but would go on to take him to a better school, one filled with love, power, suffering, presence, and victory. 

The amazing transformation we see in Paul, from a self-righteous religious leader to the guy who wrote: “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” had a lot to do with his realization that he was wrong. And he could not remain silent.

He devoted his life to preach about the good news, the grace of God that has been demonstrated in Jesus, with the purpose of reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s sin against them. His preaching was a constant reminder that he had been wrong. 

It’s scary for those of us in christian ministry to even think that our understanding of the Bible, theology, and even God, is not always 100% accurate. But how liberating and inviting is to accept that reality, and to trust that God will actually lead us to the truth, and guide us, and set us free. Free to grow, to learn, and to realize that just like Paul, and Snoopy, we might be wrong, and that’s ok.  

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