“My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)”
As Paul ends the letter to the Colossians, he mentions everyone but himself.
Aristarchus is a prisoner with Paul, and Paul sends greetings from his “fellow prisoner” as if they are on a cruise ship instead of in a prison cell.
Had this been my letter, I would have been demanding my team to get busy targeting my unjust imprisonment. Encouraging them to write letters, make phone calls.
But Paul’s heartbeat is that other people are more important than he is… So, he speaks for Aristarchus and then he takes care to guard the reputation of a guy named Mark. This is the same Mark who had “quit the team” during a missionary journey. Which later caused a public dispute between Paul and Barnabas with Paul refusing to let Mark come on the next trip.
As Paul sits in prison, he takes care to tell the Colossians (who may have heard of Paul and Mark’s disagreement) that Mark is an important part of the team and that their disagreement was not over what is – what isn’t sin …. but over personal approach to evangelism.
This delineation is something we have abandoned. There are non-negotiables… right and wrong are not “soft targets”. Scriptural definition of sin is unbendable… opinions and techniques for effective evangelism are not ...
Paul just said Mark was to be welcomed. I might have guarded my authority, and position by saying something like “now that he sees things my way,”…But Paul just says, “if he comes, you welcome him”.
Their dispute was public, it had gone “viral”… but Paul is unconcerned with announcing a winner. Forgiveness’s goal is not to prove me right -and then virtuous for pardoning… That’s not forgiveness, that’s self-aggrandizement.
Paul loved Mark. Later he will praise Mark as being helpful to his ministry. So, Paul didn’t worry about his own public stature, only about Mark’s reputation.
As I deal with others today can I keep my eye on the ball? Can I love others without my own self-interests getting in the way? It all comes down to who I think is more important…you or me?
“A culture of honor is celebrating who a person is without stumbling over who they’re not.”
— Bill Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment