by Mark Hisle
WEARING THE
Stigma
ERTAIN NAMES CARRY A STIGMA,
C
such as Benedict Arnold and Adolf
Hitler. These names immediately bring
up images of betrayal and atrocity. A
stigma is a mark of disgrace. Yet history
tells us that those who have chosen to walk with
God have often borne a stigma.
Paul testified to it in his life. He said, “I bear in
my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians
6:17). The Greek word for “mark” is stigma. Schol-
ars vary concerning what he was referring to. False
teachers insisted that converts adhere to the law in
addition to saving faith and acceptance of the
grace of Christ, and they gave Paul a difficult time
over the mark of circumcision. Paul pleaded for
them to stop troubling him. His “marks” went far
deeper into his soul than that. Catholic tradition
(possibly just legend) might identify Paul’s words
with literal stigmata, believing that some early
church fathers identified so closely with Christ
that replicas of His wounds actually appeared in
their bodies. Others would see the marks in Paul’s
body as the scars he bore as a result of enduring
intense persecution (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-25).
There is, no doubt, some truth to that. But was
Paul referring to something more?
14 EVANGEL • FEB 2009
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