Rev. Saul Paul
Independent Missionary
Corinth, Greece
Dear Mr. Paul,
We recently received an application from you for service under our
Board.
It is our policy to be as frank and open-minded as possible with all
our applicants. We have made an exhaustive survey of your case. To be plain, we
are surprised that you have been able to "pass" as a bonafide missionary.
We are told that you are afflicted with a severe eye-trouble. This is
certain to be an insuperable handicap to an effective ministry. Our Board
requires 20/20 vision. At Antioch, we learn, you opposed Dr. Simon Peter, an esteemed home
missionary and actually rebuked him publicly. You stirred up so much trouble at
Antioch that a special Board meeting had to be convened in Jerusalem. We cannot
condone such actions. Do you think it seemly for a missionary to do part-time secular work?
We hear that you are making tents on the side. In a letter to the church at
Phillipi, you admitted that they were the only church supporting you. We wonder
why.
Is it true that you have a jail record? Certain brethren report that
you did two years time at Caesarea and were imprisoned at Rome. You made so much trouble for the business men at Ephesus that they
refer to you as "the man who turned the world upside down." Sensationalism, in
missions, is uncalled for. We also deplore the lurid "over-the-wall-in-a-basket"
episode at Damascus.
We are appalled at your obvious lack of conciliatory behavior.
Diplomatic men are not stoned and dragged out of the city gates, or assaulted by
furious mobs. Have you ever suspected that gentler words might gain you more
friends? I enclose a copy of Dalius Carnagus' book, "How To Win Jews and
influence Greeks."
In one of your letters, you refer to yourself as "Paul the aged." Our
new mission policies do not envisage a surplus of superannuated recipients.
We understand that you are given to fantasies and dreams. At Troas, you
saw "a man of Macedonia" and at another time "were caught up into the third
heaven" and even claimed "the Lord stood by" you. We reckon that more realistic
and practical minds are needed in the task of world evangelism. You have caused much trouble everywhere you have gone. You opposed the
honorable women at Berea and the leaders of your own nationality in Jerusalem.
If a man cannot get along with his own people, how can he serve foreigners? We
learn that you are a snake-handler. At Malta, you picked up a poisonous serpent
which is said to have bitten you, but you did not suffer harm. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk!
You admit that while you were serving time at Rome that "all forsook
you." Good men are not left friendless. Three fine brothers, by the names of
Diotrephes, Demas and Alexander, the coppersmith, have notarized affidavits to
the effect that it is impossible for them to cooperate with either you or your
program.
We know that you had a bitter quarrel with a fellow missionary named
Barnabas. Harsh words do not further God's work. You have written many letters to churches where you have formerly been
pastor. In one of the letters, you accused a church member of living with his
father's wife, and you caused the whole church to feel badly; and the poor
fellow was expelled.
You spend too much time talking about "the second coming of Christ."
Your letters to the people at Thessalonica were almost entirely devoted to this
theme. Put first things first from now on. Your ministry has been far too flighty to be successful. First Asia
Minor, then Macedonia, then Greece, then Italy and now you are talking about a
wild goose chase into Spain. Concentration is more important than dissipation of
one's powers. You cannot win the whole world by yourself. You are just one
little Paul.
In a recent sermon, you said "God forbid that I should glory in
anything save the cross of Christ." It seems to us that you also ought to glory
in our heritage, our denominational program, the unified budget, our Cooperative
Program and the World Federation of Churches. Your sermons are much too long for the times. At one place, you talked
until after midnight and a young man was so asleep that he fell out of the
window and broke his neck. Nobody is saved after the first twenty minutes any
way. "Stand up, speak up and then shut up," is our advice. Dr. Luke reports that you are a thin little man, bald, frequently sick
and always so agitated over your church that you sleep very poorly. He reports
that you pad around the house praying half the night. A healthy mind in a robust
body is our ideal for all applicants. A good night's sleep will give you zest
and zip so that you wake full of zing. We find it best to send only married men into foreign service. We
deplore your policy of persistent celibacy. Simon Magus has set up a matrimonial
bureau at Samaria, where the names of some very fine widows are available.
You wrote recently to Timothy that "you had fought a good fight."
Fighting is hardly a recommendation for a missionary. No fight is a good fight.
Jesus came, not to bring a sword, but peace. You boast that "I fought with wild
beasts at Ephesus." What on earth do you mean?
It hurts me to tell you this, Brother Paul, but in all of my
twenty-five years experience, I have never met a man so opposite to the
requirements of our Foreign Mission Board. If we accepted you, we would break
every rule of modern missionary practice. Most Sincerely yours,
J. Flavious Fluffyhead,
Foreign Mission Board Secretary
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