In Sunday’s message, we reflected on Paul’s testimony in 1 Timothy 1:12–17. Paul admitted that before Christ stopped him in his tracks, he was “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man.” He truly thought he was doing God’s work. In reality, he was deeply mistaken.
To help us picture this, I began with the story of the Mars Climate Orbiter. Two engineering teams at NASA each did their work carefully and sincerely—but one used the metric system and the other used the English system. Their mismatch caused a $125 million spacecraft to burn up in Mars’ atmosphere. They were sincere, but sincerely wrong.
Paul knew that same truth about himself. He thought he was right, but his zeal blinded him. Instead of condemning him, God met him with mercy:
“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14).
That same grace is available for us. Paul says he is the example—that if God’s mercy can reach him, it can reach anyone. The challenge is whether we are open to correction, both personally and as the church. As I shared, “Faithfulness does not mean stubbornness. Faithfulness means being open to God’s correction.”
Sincerity is not enough. But grace is always enough.
May we live humbly, ready to hear Christ’s voice—even when it unsettles our assumptions.
We’d love to see you in person at Lincoln Park-Lynnwood United Methodist Church, 3120 Pershing Street, Knoxville, TN. Come as you are. We’re not in the judging business. We’re in the welcoming business.
