11for
I am longing to see you that I might give to you some spiritual gift into your
establishing, 12but this is [for the purpose] to be encouraged
together with you through the mutual faith both of you and me.
Here again, we get to see the mind and heart of the Apostle.
In verse 11, he expresses his desire to come and see them so he can give them some
spiritual gift, but in verse 12 he pauses to clarify his thoughts. As much as
he is looking forward to giving something to them, he also realizes that he
will gain from his communion with them.
Herein we see one of the great principles of faith and even of life itself –
that we all benefit from being together.
We find throughout the Bible that life,
as God created it, is inherently reciprocal.
We have before us a seriously “together” verse! The Greek of
verse 12 actually expresses “togetherness” in five ways in a matter of only fifteen
words – including six of those words being articles, prepositions or particles!
Paul’s word which I have translated “to be encouraged together” is all one
single word in Greek and means just that – that we should together be
encouraged. He adds it would be “together with
you.” Then he says it will be through our “mutual faith.” In this case, a prepositional phrase “in one another”
serves as an adjective modifying the word “faith,” so that it literally reads
something like “through the ‘in one
another’ faith” or “through the ‘with
one another’ faith.” Then he expresses that mutual faith belongs to “both you and me.” It is literally something “both/and.”
Clearly, Paul did not see himself “above” the Roman
Christians. Rather, he saw them as people from whom he would derive great
benefit. Yes, he was an Apostle, a man amazingly gifted by God, a man who could
literally raise the dead, heal people, and lead masses to salvation. But he did
not then see himself as “better” than these simple Christians, many of whom
were slaves. Paul seriously saw all believers as fellow laborers with him in
the faith. He could see that he needed them as much as they needed him, that
while he could bestow apostolic, even miraculous gifts on them, they in turn
could bless him in many ways, and that together
they formed the body of Christ.
What a profoundly important principle this is for us to live
by! God created us social beings. He
created us all to be “together” people. He Himself said, “It is not good for
the man to be alone” (Gen 2:18), which tells us that even in Paradise and with
God Himself for a companion (3:8), yet Adam needed a special kind of companion –
another human being with skin just like him. He needed someone to be “together”
with. Even in Paradise, an Adam needed an Eve. The single most fundamental
institution of human life is marriage – the companionship of two people who
live out life together!
Then notice that God Himself exists as a Trinity – a mysterious
co-existence of three infinite beings who together form one God. We see this
in even the very opening verse of the Bible, Gen 1:1, when it says “In the
beginning, God created...” The word translated “God” is actually plural, while
the verb “created” is singular. That seems grammatically illogical. Yet that is
in fact how it reads – a plural subject acting as a singular verb. In the very
opening verse of the Bible, the Lord is “together” creating.
When Jesus sent His disciples out into ministry, He sent
them “two by two.” Today, someone would argue that was “inefficient” – that they
could have covered twice the territory had He sent them out as individuals;
but, somehow in His wisdom and understanding of how He made us to begin with,
Jesus knew that two together could accomplish more than twice what the same two
could have done alone. Note also that even though He was the Son of God, He
valued the presence of His friends. In the Garden He asked, “Could you not have
watched with Me one hour?” When He returns from Heaven, riding on a white
horse, He comes “with the armies of Heaven following Him” (Rev 19:14). On that day, He certainly won’t “need” our
help, yet we’ll come together.
This “together” thing is to be seen all through life. As a teenage
boy, a man showed me how two logs side by side will burn together, while you
cannot keep a single log burning. I’ve also learned that in gardening there are
things called “companion” plants which, when grown together actually help each
other. I’ve heard that with pepper plants, they’ll bear more fruit if you plant
them so their leaves touch. When we purchased our home in the country there was
a cherry tree growing there. The wife of the couple selling us the house urged
me to plant another since, she said, “Cherry trees need a companion.” I’m not
particularly crazy about cherries so I just never got around to planting another,
and suddenly one day all its leaves died. I thought it might somehow recover
but later I pushed on it and it simply fell over. It was completely dead and
rotten. Just as she warned me, it had needed a companion!
Another thing I noticed in life was how much more work I got
done when my kids helped me. While they were at home growing up, I of course
had many projects I needed to undertake to keep up the house, correct faults,
improve things, etc. Often they had places to go and I would simply work alone.
It would always amaze when one of them was able to help me, how much more I
would get done. I decided then that somehow companionship is an exponential
function – that, if you have twice as many people, you don’t get twice as much
done, you get something more like four times as much done. With three you don’t
get three times as much, you get more like nine!
In my career, I’ve have had the privilege of participating
in many projects where we accomplished the amazing, even sometimes the
impossible. As I think back on that work, it gives me great pleasure to know
that they literally could not have done it without me. Yet at the same time it
also gives me even greater pleasure to realize I couldn’t have done it without
them. It took us working together.
It’s true in the church. It’s true in nature. It’s true in
work. Everywhere we go, everything we do, it simply “is not good that the man
should be alone.” Paul understood this and we should too.
Of course, it is of value to pause and consider why we don’t.
Why wouldn’t we embrace this “together” idea? Obviously, the first huge reason
will be pride – way down deep I really do think I’m “better” than them and I
simply don’t value their contribution. “I can do it myself.” Or perhaps it’s
because I can’t bear the thought of sharing glory with someone else – that if I
embrace the help of others, somehow I won’t gain the acclaim I imagine awaits
me. Perhaps it is selfishness, that I simply can’t “let go” of what my heart
tells me is “mine,” or it could be fear of something, fear that others will
fail me or perhaps hurt me if I let them get close.
Obviously none of the above has any place in a Christian’s
heart. Our very existence starts with needing a Savior, then, as the saying
goes, “The ground is level at the foot of the Cross.” We all come into faith totally
by grace and join the company of others who arrived the same way. Whatever gifts
I may have, I received from the same Lord who gifted everyone else. Even
outside of faith it is still true – as I would go to work, I go to my job every
day to stand beside people who have many, many talents, abilities, experiences,
etc., which I simply do not have. I need them.
They need me. Together, we can
accomplish amazing things. Individually, we’ll be lucky to just putter along.
Would that we all could just put away our pride and
selfishness and fear and embrace the wonders of the “together” life the Lord
created us to live. For myself, I can’t change anyone else. I can’t make anyone
else grasp this simple truth that Paul understood – but I can certainly pray
and ask the Lord to help me see anywhere I am not embracing it now. Lord, help
us all – together!
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