Video
Epistles

Why produce “Video Epistles of Paul”? What are they meant to achieve? Do they add anything to one’s experience and engagement with the Scriptures? What is gained if anything? Is the message of Paul enhanced or is there distraction from the primary focus of his letters?

The Apostle Paul was certainly a teacher, and we learn much to help form our doctrines from his letters. He also emphasizes over and again, the importance of sound teaching and appropriate instruction by the elders of the churches. Yet, how much more so did he emphasize the relational priorities and his concerns for the healthy love between the members of the church!

Here is what I hope that “Video Epistles” will bring out, something that is often lost in the usual examination and study of Paul’s letters: The relational aspect of Paul himself to his audiences. He is relatable as a person. And he relates in a deeply personal way to those to whom he wrote these letters. There is a deep personal attachment between himself and those he is passionately addressing in his letters.

As a rule, most studies of Paul’s letters, whether in commentaries or through lectures and sermons, aim at highlighting his theology and thought. My videos intend to shift the emphasis to the personal and the relational aspects of his letters. Though there are still theological ideas and instructions to be communicated in his words, the letters themselves are not general, anonymous writings. Paul knows his audience and they know him. His words are not dispassionately dictated and then scribbled on a parchment. His personality and his emotions infuse every bit of his message. His expression is relational, he is renewing and building on his connection with friends who will receive and hear his letter read out loud in public gatherings of the church. His addressees will almost imagine him standing or sitting there in their midst.

My hope is that by hearing and seeing Paul speak directly to you as if you yourself were one of the Galatians or as if you were Timothy can help you relate to him as your own teacher and apostle and friend. The idea is to help modern believers see Paul as a real personality and to empathize with his passion and struggles. To resonate with his desire to advance the gospel not only in the world but also in them. It may change one’s perception Paul. After one of my live performances as “Paul in Chains” an audience member said that she had always pictured Paul as a stern, harsh, and arrogant man, but once she had seen my portrayal in "Philippians", she saw how tender and compassionate he was. 

In bible study we try so hard to learn about. There are so many facts and ideas and theories and theologies to be worked through. We can forget that the primary aim of the Father sending his Son is not to straighten out our thinking and to shape up our understanding (though certainly there is much to straighten out and shape up), but his first and highest purpose is, as always, to restore us to right relationship to himself. Yes, there is much to know about Jesus, but his invitation is simply and foremost to know him; to walk with him, to talk with him, and to trust him as we are his own. After all, Jesus said, “Believe also in Me.” and not “Believe certain things about Me.” It’s personal, not informational. His mission was not all educational and intellectual, as much as it was relational, familial, and covenantal. He knew if he could redirect the prodigal heart (through repentance), then he could also correct misdirection and errors of the head in due course. Even Paul seemed to concur that the emphasis on the work of the heart (expressed in Romans 12:1 this way “… in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship”) must precede the work of the head (as in Romans 12:2 “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”).

And the same is true for ministry and discipleship. We will always need foundational teaching and instruction to be sure. Theological thinking certainly must be clear and precise to avoid error. But at its core the Christian life is personal and relational. It is not all about mere knowledge and information for the head, but it is food and nourishment for the soul and the heart, and it is for bonding the community, for knitting the family of God, for building the church. Again, it’s personal and relational. And covenantal.

In the book, Devotional Classics, Richard J. Foster follows up a selection by Jonathan Edwards about the power of the “affections” of true religion by saying this:

Jonathan Edwards teaches us that the intellectual life and the passionate life should be friends, not enemies. Without the slightest contradiction it is possible to be both toughminded and tenderhearted. What we learn to do is to descend with the mind into the heart and there wait in anticipation for the heavenly Whisper. We worship God with brain and viscera!

  The life of a church will certainly include much teaching and instruction and therewith information galore. But the very best of teaching of Christian ideas and principles and practices happens when relationships are firstly nurtured and healthy and strong. And the measure of church members is not how much they know or how well they can recite the creeds or adhere to the doctrines, but rather how deeply they love Christ and one another.  

We learn best from the teachers whom we “see” and to whom we can “relate”. We take to heart Christian practices when someone we “know” is observable and “personifies” those practices. In these videos, can we “see” and “relate” to Paul? Can we come to “know” him in his desire to gain Christ and to be found in Christ, and thereby can we grow as Paul “personifies” the faith we should emulate?

Discipleship is about being a role model and example for others to follow. Of course, Paul often explicitly encourages others to follow his example, but I also want people to witness his example in these videos. I want them to see how he spontaneously lapses into prayer and doxology. I want them also to observe those moments when he is caught up in his own ethereal imaginations of anticipating and encountering the Lord “on that day” almost forgetting that he is in fact still earth bound and in chains. Paul’s enthusiasm in the joy and grace of God is contagious merely by being in Paul’s presence and watching him. It is not just in his words alone. There is likely a catch in his voice, perhaps an overtone of frustration or pain or ecstasy, then a tear in his eye, a smile at the corner of his mouth, or a pause in his thoughts as he remembers the dear ones who are precious not only to him, but also to his Lord.

Paul is not merely a man of brain, but also of viscera!

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How would "Video Epistles" be used? They could be used to augment a small group Bible study. They certainly do not replace in-depth exploration and exegesis of a text. If done properly they could add to the visual appreciation of the historical and cultural context. My intent with the dramatization is to add an emotional context to, and connection with, the words; something that is rarely fully acknowledged or discussed. Of course, emotional interpretation could be debated just as much as any linguistic translation. 

Otherwise, these videos could be of broader use for youth groups or even possibly as the Scripture reading before a sermon on a Sunday morning. More specifically, I hope they elicit more engagement and study of Paul's personality itself.