As we’re going through Romans, it might help to address a common misconception about Paul - namely, that he’s a huge jerk who just rebukes everyone all the time in his letters. You might not think that, but there are plenty of people who do. 

To be fair to someone with that opinion, Paul does do a lot of correcting. In fact, I can’t think of a single one of his letters where he doesn’t address conduct he’s observed or heard about in the early church. Philippians is probably one of his nicest letters - but even one of the most quoted passages (Philippians 4:13), where he states that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him - he’s actually challenging his readers, who are experiencing persecution, to double down and even further embrace suffering. 

In many of his corrective letters, he’s actually answering questions the church has asked of him. We’re told the church in Corinth wrote to him (1 Corinthians 7:1) asking for his guidance on several topics. His letters to them, where he gives very specific guidance and correction, are very much in response to what the church expected of him.

A rabbi (in the Jewish world) or an early leader in the church (for Christians) was expected to correct. Think about Jesus and how He spoke with people. I’m not sure I can think of a single conversation He had where someone didn’t get rebuked, guided, redirected, or corrected in some way. In interacting with people this way, Jesus wasn’t just being the Son of God who was sent to give light in the darkness; He was also simply being a good rabbi. 

Paul tells us repeatedly that he conducts himself in such a way that he’s being like Christ - and that we should be like him (1 Corinthians 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Philippians 3:17). Christ did a lot of correcting (including correcting Paul himself), and so did Paul, so it follows that we should expect to correct others and be corrected ourselves.

Yet, our contemporary evangelical Christian culture is pretty anemic when it comes to correction. We’re not accustomed to it. We don’t expect it. So when we read Paul doing it, instead of thinking he’s doing a good job, we can get rubbed the wrong way. In truth, if Paul hadn’t corrected the early church, they would have been surprised, and I think disappointed. As disciples, they expected their rabbi to (in love and grace) get on their case and speak into their lives. 

While we might be taken aback by how boldly Paul asserts his authority, what about Paul might have surprised the early church? Instead of being caught off guard by his correctiveness, early Christians likely would have been quite shocked by his affection for them. 

Practitioners of Roman cults and religions were not known to care deeply for those who visited their temples. And while Jewish rabbis were certainly close with their disciples, Paul’s language pushes the limits of what anyone would have expected. 

He compares himself to a nursing mother, with his friends in Thessaloniki as nursing infants (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8). He describes being torn away from them, and that they are his joy (1 Thessalonians 2:7-20). They are his beloved, his crown (Philippians 4:1). He longs to see them, wants to encourage them, and can’t wait to be encouraged by them (Romans 1:11-12). His heart is wide open for them (2 Corinthians 6:11-13).

And if all that weren’t enough, listen to the language of Philippians 1:8 “For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” He loves them as deeply as Christ loves them, and nothing is deeper than that. Just as Christ’s love was quite shocking - so was Paul’s. And that shouldn’t have surprised anyone after all, because he was just being like his rabbi. 

What’s your impression of Paul? He can get a bad rap, but I’m not entirely sure it’s justified. Take it one question deeper - Do you welcome and even seek out discipleship that is simultaneously deeply affectionate and corrective? I think Paul (and far more importantly, Christ Himself) would say there is no other version of real discipleship.