Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

106 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

One of the ways that St. Francis described his relationship with the poor (and others) was through the word Cortesia . “We use the word ‘courtesy’ to mean manners. Originally, it meant the behavior and etiquette expected of one who served at a noble court. . . . For St. Francis . . . cortesia was a way of seeing and acting towards others.

~ Lawrence Cunningham. St. Francis of Assisi. San Francisco: Harper and Row. 1981.

The example of Paul and Onesimus:

Philem. 1.10-17 – I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending him – who is my very heart – back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the Gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. We have no idea how old Paul’s Onesimus was when he wrote about him; but a young man in his later teens or early twenties at that time would be about seventy by the time of Ignatius’s martyrdom – not an incredible age for a bishop in those day. . . .The preservation of this private letter [Book of Philemon] must be explained. That Onesimus did become the bishop of Ephesus is not improbable. If so . . . Onesimus could scarcely fail to get to know about [the collecting of the Pauline corpus], and would make sure that his Pauline letter found a place in it. ~ F. F. Bruce. Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984. p. 202. Many scholars believe that this same Onesimus became a bishop in the early church!

Every poor person is to be treated based on the potential inherent in their calling.