“…and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.”
Philemon 6 (ESV)
In my household the summer of 2005 is referred to as the “Summer of the Chickens”. By all accounts, it was a complete fiasco. The gist of the story is that I stopped by a local farm market the day they happened to be selling chicks. Overcome by the adorable little yellow buggers, I succumbed and brought 15 of them home with me. Keep in mind I had no pens and no food. To make matters worse, I lived in a downtown urban center—certainly a violation of multiple city ordinances. All was well and good—until those little buggers decided to grow. Hastily I built pens, secured food, and struggled to keep the fowl from smelling…well…foul. In over my head, several friends came to my rescue and the birds eventually received proper homes.
Taking care of the needs of others is a heavy responsibility. This is certainly true in our churches. All children of God require assistance in the strengthening of their faith, growth in their knowledge of God, and help in letting go of hurt in order to become more like Christ. The Puritan William Attersoll writes, “It is no small thing to comfort and strengthen the weak and feeble, and to give rest to the soul & body, that hath been tost & troubled with much affliction”. 1 The church is full of hurting, broken people who need consistent love and never-ending gentleness if they are to continue on towards spiritual maturity. It is our duty to come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to stir up in them an increase of the graces of God.
God’s plan for achieving this spiritual growth is the Word of God demonstrated in our lives, and spoken through our lips. Paul commends Philemon because he actively shared his faith with his fellow believers. They heard him constantly refer to the truth of God’s word, and saw the effects of the Word applied to his daily life. Both his message and his lifestyle were powerful testimonies of his faith. Paul’s prayer is that the Word of God spoken and lived would become effective in the lives of those close to Philemon.
Christ did not only save us from hell, he also saved us for heaven. He did not merely remove sin, he also implanted holiness. He did not simply release us from the shackles of spiritual ignorance, he released us into the garden of spiritual knowledge. The Apostle Peter makes this point when he writes, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). Christ brought us to life; now, therefore, is the time to grow, to be strengthened, and to truly live! Often, people use Philemon 6 as a proof text for the need to evangelize. While evangelism is important, this verse is not referring to the sharing our faith with nonbelievers. Instead, it is a call for all of us to actively share our faith with each other—in order that we may all grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.2
It is not enough to have faith—we must also seek the increase of it, in ourselves and others.
________________________
1 William Attersoll, A Commentary Upon the Epistle of Saint Paul to Philemon (London, 1612), p 125.
2 The word “share” is actually the Greek word koinonia, which often means “to share, to participate in”. It seems that Paul is praying the Philemon’s fellow believers will “share in” the faith that is manifest in Philemon’s life.
I seem to recall it was your sister who took those pesky birds off your hands.....Mom
ReplyDeleteI quail at the thought of raising chickens. Way too much responsibility. Whatever came over you?
ReplyDeleteThe summer of the chickens will pale in horror to the summer of the geese or worse yet the summer of the goats.
ReplyDelete