Why was Paul the apostle to the gentle?

Are we talking about the same Paul? I'm not sure if that means what you think it means. Especially early in his ministry, he was not so good around gentle people.

I mean, check out these quotes:

"…Not many of you were wise by human standards…" 1 Corinthians 1:26

"You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?" 1 Corinthians 3:3

"Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters." 1 Corinthians 6:8

"Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame." 1 Corinthians 15:34

"But their minds were made dull…" 2 Corinthians 3:14

"Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it…" 2 Corinthians 7:8

"For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." 2 Corinthians 11:13-15

"When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned." Galatians 2:11

"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?" Galatians 3:1

"I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." Galatians 4:11

"As for all those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" Galatians 5:12

"Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh." Philippians 3:2

Harsh, bro.

To his credit, though, Paul also said stuff like...

"…Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well….For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." 1 Thessalonians 2:7b-8, 11-12

Confused? Peter did say of Paul, "…his letters contain some things that are hard to understand…" (2 Peter 3:16).

So, no, Paul wasn't really the apostle to the gentle, especially early on in his ministry. In fact, he was downright antagonistic. Until he learned about body spray, he didn't realize people gave him much grief because he smelled so bad. Afterward he chilled a little, but not too much. After all, his target audience wasn't really known for being benign and compassionate people; they were Gentiles.

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