Yesterday, we pretty much wrapped up our study of Romans in Sunday School, touching on the “personal greetings” section of this letter from Paul. It’s funny though… most of the time when we read this section of scripture, we tend to breeze through it… sometimes literally skipping to the end. After all, it’s just a bunch of personal greetings to people whose names we can hardly pronounce… not obviously full of deep theological concepts… it’s just easy to do.
Take a closer look though. If you’ve never really done so, you’re missing some valuable lessons about one of the most vital parts of our walk with Christ… the necessity of Christian community.
Take a look, and put yourself in Paul’s shoes, or even that of those people he wrote to…
1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. 2I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 3Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 4They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. 6Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 7Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. 9Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. 10Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 11Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 12Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. 13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. 14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. 15Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. 16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
Did you catch what he had to say about these people?
“she has been a great help to many people…”
“they risked their lives for me…”
“worked very hard for you…”
“who have been in prison with me…”
“outstanding among the apostles…”
“tested and approved in Christ…”
“who work hard in the Lord…”
“who has been a mother to me…”
Has it ever dawned on you just how many people Paul singled out? And not just that… look at the great things he said about them. Amazing, isn’t it?
Paul’s life was clearly affected in a profound manner by these people. I’m certain that his walk with Christ was much closer because of this awesome community of believers, and moreso, that his ministry was more effective because of them.
Why do we modern-day believers have such a problem developing relationships like this? Is it possible that we, as individual believers, are far less effective in making a difference for Christ because of this fact? Does the lack of authentic Christian community have an even more profound effect in regard to the effectiveness of our churches?
Need I answer?
I didn’t think so.
So… “Got Community?” If not, why not?
I found a great small group study called Contagious Communit: Living Beyond Yourself from Serendipity House. We’re using it in our cell groups now. It’s great for giving people the tools to get community.
John, I think we’re scared of community. Community necessarily leads to transparency and we’re terrified of others learning that in essence we’re all messed up. We all struggle with sin and we really, really don’t want others to find out. We’re scared of what they might think; and to be honest with you, most churches aren’t prepared for all their people being transparent. We’re trained to wear the mask (the stained glass masquerade – if you will) and when the masks come off, most churches get panicked. At least, that’s my perception.
I would agree with Micah, however I see another aspect. I think some do not commit to community for a selfish reason. We have so privatized our Christianity that we believe for best results we should be completely isolated. We are, sometimes, willing to spend time in our own growth but the idea of investing in someone else is just messy and recourse consuming. We want to isolate thinking that alone we can better achieve sanctification not knowing that we are inadvertently stunting our growth.