By David ReayWednesday 10 Mar 2021LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (NLT)
It is so easy to become adversarial, to see others in the church as problems to be solved, or as roadblocks preventing us from achieving our deeply held dreams. We hear of church leaders who get upset because people won’t “buy into their vision”, or because certain people have let them down.
Paul certainly had problems with people in churches. But his letters to them usually began with a thanksgiving. He saw beyond the immediate irritations and so was grateful for their partnership in advancing the cause of Jesus. When he thought of them it was not primarily as opponents but rather as fellow workers.
He accepted them as imperfect fellow workers. He didn’t put them on some unrealistic pedestal. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said that idealism was the death of Christian community. It leads to disillusionment and disappointment. It ignores what Paul states here: that we are all on a journey and haven’t arrived at perfect maturity yet. We are on the way.
And that journey to maturity is a long and winding road. But we have the assurance of God’s strong help. He launched us on the journey, he will welcome us at the end of the journey, and he accompanies us every step of the journey.
Blessings
David