"Dead Man" Preaching

In prison culture, a death row inmate on the way to his execution is called a “dead man walking.” The apostle Paul did nothing worthy of death (cf. Acts 25:11), yet he found himself being pursued by those who wanted him dead. Paul was certainly aware of this and accepted it as part of his ministry. In this sense, the apostle Paul was not only a “dead man” walking, but he was also a “dead man” preaching. While every Christian does not share the exact ministry in life as did Paul, each Christian does share the common “death sentence” as he or she walks in the Lord. Let us note three aspects of Paul’s “death sentence” that made him a “dead man” preaching.

His Conversion

The act of becoming a Christian is a kind of “death sentence.” Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mt. 16:24, NKJ). Taking up one’s “cross” is more than just having to put up with inconveniences. Rather, the people of first century Jerusalem associated it with a death sentence. When criminals were sentenced to death, they were forced to “take up” their cross and carry it through the streets to the place of crucifixion (Jn. 19:16-17 cf. Mt. 27:31-32). Thus, Christians’ taking up their crosses is symbolic of their having been sentenced to death concerning this world. Paul explained it like this, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). Christians have died to sin so that we no longer belong to ourselves (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Paul admitted he was a “dead man” walking when he declared, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). When we became Christians our old life died, and our new life is the life of faithfulness in Christ. Are we truly converted?

His Apostolic Ministry

Not only did Paul look upon his conversion as a death sentence of sorts, he also looked upon his ministry as an apostle “born out of due time” as a sentence of death. Paul illustrated this three ways. First, Paul thought of himself as doomed. In a section where he was convincing the Corinthians that they should not place him on a pedestal, he wrote, “For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Cor. 4:9). The imagery here is from the custom of condemned criminals or conquered foes who were paraded (“displayed...made a spectacle”) through the streets on their way to being executed. “Both to angels and men” shows the contrast between those of the world who enjoyed watching Christians being put to death publically versus angels who were ministering spirits and messengers of God (Heb. 1:6-7), who were also concerned about servants of God on earth (Lk. 15:10; Rev. 8:3-4; 14:6-7). The way Paul was treated was more like a condemned criminal than the great man of history he was. The world considered Paul and his coworkers “fools for Christ’s sake...weak...dishonored...poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless...reviled...persecuted... defamed...made as the filth of the world, the offscouring [scum, NAS] of all things” (1 Cor. 4:10-13).

Second, Paul felt as though his life was constantly being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake. The apostle said, “We are hard pressed on every side...we are perplexed... persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us...” (2 Cor. 4:8-12). Paul’s ministry constantly exposed him to death (note the use of “always...always” in verses 10-11)!

Third, Paul recognized that the world viewed him as dying. In one passage Paul described his ministry using nine antitheses, where one part of each antithesis represents an evaluation of his ministry from a human standpoint, while the other part from God’s standpoint. He wrote, “As deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:8-10).

His Life's Sacrifice

Paul viewed his life as a continual offering to God. After asking a series of rhetorical questions, beginning with “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?,” Paul concluded, “As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” (Rom. 8:35-36 cf. Ps. 44:22). Because of this realization, Paul was able to “count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8). To further illustrate Paul’s attitude about his life of suffering for Christ, listen to what he told the Colossians, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church” (Col. 1:24). Paul viewed Christ’s sufferings as the standard, and compared to that, the apostle admitted he fell way short! He was ready to keep sacrificing his life until his cup of suffering filled up to the level of Christ’s!

From his conversion until the time of his earthly departure, Paul was, figuratively speaking, a “dead man” preaching. He leaves us a tremendous example of how we should serve God (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). Do we consider ourselves “crucified with Christ”? Do we consider “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20)? Are we willing to suffer persecution to remain faithful (Rev. 2:10)? For Christ, let us consider ourselves “dead men walking.”