18Then, after three years, I went up into Jerusalem to inquire of Cephas and remained with him fifteen days 19but I did not see other of the apostles except James the brother of the Lord.
Once again, I am aware that Paul is making a point here. I intend to pull it all together and consider his point. However, on the way there I have no problem whatsoever observing the man and learning what I can simply watching him. “He who walks with wise men will be wise.”
That said, notice a little thing Paul does. Notice how he is reporting the facts of his visit to Jerusalem, emphasizing he had little initial contact with the other apostles. To that end he says, “I did not see other of the apostles” but then adds “except James the brother of the Lord.”
Paul was always careful to be factual when recounting details. I remember in I Corinthians 1:14-16: “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)”
Notice he’s doing the same thing as in our passage. He makes a statement of fact to support his point, but he is also very careful to make sure what he reports is factual: “I didn’t baptize anyone except Crispus and Gaius … well, oh yes, there was also the household of Stephanus … beyond that I don’t remember anyone …” His point being made was that baptism wasn’t an important part of Paul’s ministry to the Corinthians. “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (v.17). But in making that point, notice how he is careful of his “facts.”
One of the advantages of telling the truth is you don’t have to remember what you said or who you said it to. You just speak the truth to whomever you’re speaking to the best of your knowledge. Over the years, memory may jumble facts but it’s good when you’ve sincerely tried to be factual. It is easy when speaking to conveniently “leave out” certain details which might “distract” from our point. It’s also easy to embellish the truth “just a little” to make it more “colorful.” But we do so at the peril of our own integrity.
I believe this matter of being carefully and deliberately factual is a fundamental issue of our integrity and not something to be taken lightly. Paul didn’t take it lightly. He was personally, internally motivated to make sure that what came out of his mouth was truth.
Here we are back to the issue of truth. Truth is such an important thing. We constantly make decisions based on what we perceive to be (or want to be) the truth. What is at stake in our present discussion is the “facts” we give each other. We all depend not only on our own perceptions of truth, but then we have to depend on others around us. We actually depend to one extent or another on other people telling us the truth, that they accurately relate facts, that they mean what they say. And when we don’t, one way or another we mess up everyone else. When we say, “I’ll be there at 5:00,” or “I’ll take care of that for you,” or “Here’s what I’ll charge you/ pay you to do that,” etc., others make decisions based on those statements. When we simply don’t do what we said then we mess up their plans, perhaps making it difficult for them to keep their promises. It simply is very important for all of us to realize it is of utmost importance that what comes out of our mouth is truth.
Paul was careful to be factual. We should be too.
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