It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:7-8
Antony and Cleopatra, Hewlett and Packard, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Steve Jobs and Steve Woznaik, Laurel and Hardy. We are all familiar with these partners. Have you ever heard of the partnership of Gordon and Stebbins? Probably not. For most unknown partners, the recognition stops at the first name and ends before the 'and'. I hope many are familiar with Gordon, the famous preacher, writer and composer. If we fill in the blank after Gordon, we probably would leave the blank empty because we aren't familiar with Stebbins.
George C Stebbins was a musician who served briefly as the music director at Clarendon Street Baptist Church in Boston, where A. J. Gordon was the priest. He doesn't have a school named after him. He was a simple musician - but a good one. He was an unknown partner in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He later wrote songs for George Pentecost, D.L. Moody and Fanny Crosby. He was a partner.
Stebbins understood the truth that one may be a known partner or not known. But what matters ultimately is that one must reflect the humility of Christ. This is reflected in the sentiments of his hymn 'Have Thine own Way, Lord!' for which he supplied the music while Adelaide A Pollard wrote the words.
Paul in this verse writes.."... whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me...."
We might think he's saying, 'whether times are bad or good, we all enjoy the blessings of the gospel.' Yes, they all did enjoy the blessings of the gospel, but that's not Paul's meaning here. Instead he is saying, 'whether I'm locked away as a prisoner, or out there preaching the good news, you are always my partners, my supporters, my encouragers.'
Paul was always conscious that his commission to be an apostle was an undeserved favour. He'd persecuted Christians, and was on his way to hunt down more of them in Damascus when he had a vision of Jesus, heard his voice, and had his life turned around. The persecutor became the preacher. It was so unexpected and undeserved that Paul saw his calling into a new life and mission as nothing other than charis, the grace of God.
He uses the word 'grace' in that sense when writing to the Philippians. And he thanks them especially that, no matter his circumstances, they stand with him in his work. In verse 5 he called the Philippians his partners and now he emphasizes that point. They all work together. They share in God's grace, God's work, with him.
Paul's words teaches that support should never depend on success. Paul was sometimes locked away, and sometimes free to go from city to city with the gospel. Whatever his situation, the Philippians were faithful in their support.
Support isn't just financial; it's much more holistic than that. Support should be given because it is 'our' work. the 80/20 rule is discussed across all kinds of business and organizational life. For example, of all those who ever attend a particular church, it's likely only about twenty per cent will really participate in the work of that church.
When Paul thanks the Philippians because they share in God's grace with him, he's thanking them for not abandoning the work of mission to Paul and Timothy and a handful of others. The eighty per cent don't think the work belongs to just twenty per cent. The mission - taking the gospel to every country they could reach - was the work of all one hundred per cent of them. Paul leads. Paul makes the journey. Paul is the principal preacher. But they all share in the same grace, the same call, the same responsibility. This is the work of all of them.
Paul cared for these Philippian Christians. His care wasn't mercenary, something which existed only to get their support. With the love that Jesus had shown him, and given him, Paul loved these poeple. They loved him too, and out of love recognized their call to share in his call to take the good news to the world. These Christians were bound together by Christ's love. That's the love we need in our churches today.
Dear Friends where do we fall in the extension of his kingdom. Do we fall in the 20% or 80% category? Let us pray that the church we are involved in have 100% participation for the extension of Kingdom of God.
God Bless You.
The 80/20 principle is nature's way of execution and is of great significance. It cannot be over ruled by any human being, however much we wish.
ReplyDeleteThe 80/20 principle is nature's way of execution and is of great significance. It cannot be over ruled by any human being, however much we wish.
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