Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. (NLT)
Not much is known about the two women, Euodia and Syntyche. What we do know is that they were not getting along with one another. Each was a valued partner in ministry with Paul, but it seems that while they could get on with him, they couldn’t do the same with one another. Many Christian leaders will testify that it is so very draining when those they love, and respect fail to love and respect one another.
Which is a reminder of how challenging Christian fellowship can be. It is a bit like family relationships. We can choose our friends but can’t choose our families. We haven’t got the luxury as followers of Jesus to be selective in our Christian fellowship. We are related through Jesus to all other believers whether we get on with them or not.
Our Christian fellowship is not based on personal compatibility but on a common relationship with God through Jesus. In fact, true fellowship is best experienced when this is just about all we do have in common. At such times we learn to rely not on the degree of personal liking but on something far deeper.
God has invited people to himself who may not always be compatible in an earthly sense. As one writer once put it, maintaining Christian fellowship is like building with bananas. Those odd shapes make it hard. But they also make it, to say the least, interesting.
Blessings,
David
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