“The Preacher is Insignificant”

The apostle Paul is perhaps the best known among all the disciples of Christ. That likelihood is owed to the fact that it was Paul who carried the gospel “to the ends of the earth.” It was Paul who was responsible for the conversion of countless thousands of gentiles throughout the Roman world, the city-state which at the time was the dominant power in the ancient world. Yet, we have scant knowledge of Paul outside the New Testament.

We know that Paul was born in Tarsus, in what today is Turkey, only because he tells his readers in several sections of the New Testament of that fact. We have little information on his upbringing aside from the fact that he testifies to the fact that he was brought up as a Pharisee, that is observing the Law with stringent, meticulous effort. No one, says Paul, was any more dedicated to learning and observing the Law than he was.

We know that he was imprisoned several times including an imprisonment in Rome at the end of the 50’s and beginning of the 60’s AD. We know that he was released after that first imprisonment and, although there is some evidence that he in fact made it to Spain as he told the  Roman church he wished to do, there is a paucity of evidence that he indeed made it to the Iberian Peninsula. At some point, perhaps on his return from Spain or while still within its borders, he was arrested once again, tried in Rome, and executed as a traitor to the state. When and how he was executed is a matter more of conjecture than historical fact. Tradition tells us that it was during the reign of Nero, thus likely near the end of the 60’s, and, as being a Roman citizen, he was beheaded.

In contrast to Paul, the Emperor Nero, under whom Paul likely suffered martyrdom, was born in December of 37 and died in June of 68 AD. We know that the Emperor Claudius was his stepfather a fact which led to him becoming emperor in time. He ascended to the throne at the tender age of 17 and was emperor for 14 years. Although the event is surrounded by a great deal of controversy, he is commonly blamed for starting the great fire in Rome owing to the fact that he wanted to remake the city so it would have greater splendor than at any time in the past. He would blame the Christians and begin the first empire-wide persecution of the faith. His excesses when persecuting Christians are legendary, extending to burning them alive as torches for his garden parties, among other depravities.

Nero is often depicted as savage and bloodthirsty, although those traits were not at all uncommon among the Roman royalty. Murders, seditions, treasons, and the like were the common lot of Imperial Rome, and it was common for emperors to be supplanted by another who would come to the throne as a result of killing the incumbent. Take for example the three Caesars who succeeded Nero within the span of two years (Otho, Vitello, and Galba). None of them lasted longer than a year and each of them was murdered.

Nero would escape the fate of many of his predecessors, not because he was so loved that no one wanted him dead. There were many who would have killed him if they had had the chance. Rather, he was not murdered because he took his own life at the tender age of 30. After a reign of terror which rivaled any that had taken place before and that would take place after, Nero saw no other way to end the suffering of a mind which by all accounts was severely diseased than to kill himself.

All this to throw light on the contrast between two of the most influential individuals of mid-first century AD. Nero accomplished little of any good during his short life. Yet, we know exponentially much more about his life than we do about the greatest of the apostles. Paul’s influence is still felt every time someone comes to Christ and his letters, 13 of them (perhaps 14 if we accept Hebrews as coming from his pen) have served as the primary blueprint for the church in the 20 centuries since his passing. Yet for all of this, Paul is, outside the New Testament, a relative unknown. It is that fact that helps us see what, in the words of John Macarthur, is the point of this article: the preacher is insignificant.

Thus, whenever we feel the urge to aggrandize ourselves or any other preacher, let us remember that we are but earthen vessels that are used by God for His purposes. The day will come when He will no longer have use for us on this earth. When that happens, some may mourn for us, but it will not be long before we are but a faint memory of a life that spent a scant 60-80 years on this earth. Remember, it is the Lord who does the work, and it is the Lord who matters. As the writer of Hebrews wrote “but you Lord in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will pass away, but you remain. Like a garment they will wax old, and like a robe you will roll them up. But you remain the same and your years shall never end” (Hebrews 1:10-12). Praise God for His infiniteness!