Paul: liberal or conservative

Romans 12:5. so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;

8. if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 9. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Acts 20:34. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: `It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Liberal or conservative? This is about the Apostle Paul - not some politician in Europe, the U.S., or Israel. The terms have been co-opted and applied so many different ways that it is rare when the discussion frames them in the way so typically considered all the way up into the early 20th Century.

Possibly one of the most clearly divided periods of our Western Culture and History, as regards the values of Liberal/Conservative, would be the Victorian Era - although the polarization in religious circles came a few centuries before Queen Victoria.

The practical application of 'liberal/conservative' during the 19th Century was how highly 'thrift' was valued over 'largesse.' One reason for the backlash in economic philosophy (evidenced by such people as J.M. Keynes, et al) which emphasized 'largesse' and the immediacy of the present (over the "we will all be dead" perspective of the future) was their hostility toward the heavy-handed moralizing and attendant stinginess elevated to Godly status by the 19th Century "white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant" ethic which had swept across Britain and the U.S.

For the W.A.S.P. it was a 'higher' valued ethic to be 'thrifty.' To be known as a person of 'largesse' was to be known as 'wasteful' and 'unwise.'

Using the Western Culture historical understanding of 'liberal' as being one who practices ''wasteful" 'largesse,' and 'conservative' as being one who has "thrifty" practices - let's look at the Apostle Paul.

To look at all the scriptures regarding Paul's financial practices would be too much for this little study. Basically we would find that he was very 'conservative,' "thrifty," toward himself and very 'liberal,' "generous" toward others.

The passages in Romans 12 and Acts 20 are indicative of Paul's intent toward others to err on the side of 'largesse' (being liberal) rather than on 'thrift' (being conservative).

In our attitudes today toward others, the New Testament standard has not changed. When it comes to the New Testament we are still called to be liberal toward others...being conservative toward yourself is merely an option and probably won't make you closer to God.  :)