Useless to Useful

“Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” (Philemon 8-11)

The Greek name Onesimus means “useful.” With a name like that, perhaps Onesimus had been born a slave. Can you picture a slave owner giving his slave the name “Useful”?

The irony is that Onesimus as a slave had been the opposite of useful. He had been useless. We’re not told all the details, but it’s clear that Onesimus wasn’t a hard worker. He refused to do what he was called to do. It sounds like Onesimus may have even stolen from his master Philemon (see Philemon 18). Finally, Onesimus ran away. Despite his name, Onesimus wasn’t useful at all. He was useless!

Until he became a Christian. When Onesimus became a Christian and Paul’s son in the faith, it didn’t change his status in life. He was still a runaway slave. Yet, becoming a Christian did something greater: It changed Onesimus’ heart. That’s what the gospel does. The gospel doesn’t change our position in life. The gospel does something more radical: It changes our hearts. This man whose sinful attitude had made him useless to everyone was now useful to everyone because of his faith in Christ. 

But Paul didn’t want to force Philemon to believe that. Instead, Paul appealed to Philemon on the basis of love to see the change in his runaway slave. This is grace in action! It was as if Paul were saying, “Dear Philemon, you know what you were like before you believed in Jesus. You know how the gospel changed your heart. Do you think it could do the same for Onesimus? Do you think it could turn him from useless into useful?” We’re not told Philemon’s response, but we can guess what it was: “Of course!”

Don’t be surprised when the gospel does the same for you and others in your life. God’s Word has the amazing power to change sinful hearts and turn “useless” into “useful.”

Dear Lord, the sinful attitudes of our hearts make all of us useless to you and to others. Use the power of your Word to change our hearts and show us how we can be useful both to you and others. Amen.

Pastor Nathan