Thursday, June 26, 2008
I'm reading Romans 16 the other day and I feel like stopping. All you read are a bunch of names. Names that are pretty hard to read and impossible to pronounce. Isn't it okay to just skip these chapters in the Bible? I'm not actually supposed to learn anything from Romans 16, am I? Who are these people? Why are they in the Bible? Is this part inspired? I decided that I had to continue reading and try to maintain focus. I don't know about you, but my mind begins to wander when I'm just reading name after name after name...Greet Andronicus...Greet Ampliatus...Greet blah, blah, blah (forgive me Lord). Finally, verse 16 brought back some interest, "Greet one another with a holy kiss." Yikes. First of all, if we practice this at the church we need to pass out breath mints, instead of coffee. Secondly, as a closet germ phob, I don't know if I could do this. How about, "Greet one another with a fist bump?" That sounds better to me.
It occurred to me that these are people that Paul loved, prayed for, cared about, ate with, laughed with, cried with. These are people that Paul lived life with. These weren't just names to Paul, these were people he loved and who helped him accomplish God's purpose in his life. These were people he served next to. These were people that shared God's grace and goodness. It became so clear to me that the Christian life isn't administrating programs, pursuing social changes or believing the right stuff. The Christian life is about relationships. With God and with people.
Paul mentioned these people because they were the ministry. I remember one of my professors in Bible college saying over and over again, "Ministry is all about people". You know what? He was right. I'm glad I didn't skip Romans 16.
Greetings to you (with a fist bump),
Pastor Tim
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