I often get asked why Onesimus and his story resonate with me, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever answered those questions with a sense of satisfaction.   I think the biggest aspect to that is the meaning of the name – “useful.”  I’ve known so many people who see following Christ as removing themselves from their society and community in order to live some sort of quasi-monastic life.  This is not useful in living out being salt and light and causing real change within our society for Christ.

I work with people who society has either forgotten or written-off as “useless.”  These are people who have struggled with life, made wrong choices, and now have to face the consequences of those choices.  They’ve been broken.  Through Christ, they find their purpose and usefulness because Christ shows them their uniqueness, value, and worth.  Christ transforms them into mighty men and women who understand what it’s like to be in the wilderness of life and follow the light to salvation in Christ.  They understand that to follow Christ mean you have to accept responsibility, reject passivity, and lead courageously.

The story of Onesimus also resonates with me because it’s a story of facing responsibility.  Following Christ doesn’t give you a freedom to leave this society behind and stick your head in the Bible hoping it’ll all work out.  It means something different.  Following Christ gives you the freedom to jump into your community to shine the light of Christ in real ways that cause change and hope to occur.  Finding your usefulness in God means that you are being transformed into understanding that God’s mission on earth is your mission on earth, and that what God wants is what you want.