 |
| PAUL'S FAVORITE CHURCH |
| When others failed, these friends stuck. |
| I thank my God every time I remember you. 1:3 |
| The Christian church hasn't had a perfect record throughout history. If you take a random sample of adjectives people use to describe the church, the list will likely include such labels as racist, judgmental, narrow, divided, pompous. The church of Jesus Christ has fallen far short of the ideals he entrusted to it - so far short that we may sometimes forget what the church is supposed to look like. Problems existed from the beginning: Paul's letters to Galatia, Corinth, and Colosse flame with indignation against defects in the early church. Occasionally, however, a church came along that worked, against all odds. Philippi was one of those rare congregations. Loyal Friends From its birth, the church in Philippi had two strikes against it. Its first recorded converts were an Asiatic Jewish merchant, a Greek slave girl employed as a sideshow fortune-teller, and a gruff Roman jailer (Acts 16). Yet more than a decade later, when Paul wrote the church, he could hardly find words warm enough to express his pride and affection. Paul turned down money gifts from other churches, out of fear that his enemies might twist the facts and accuse him of being a crook. But he trusted the Philippians. At least four separate times they sacrificed to meet his needs. And they also sent Epaphroditus on an arduous journey to care for Paul in prison. Paul wrote Philippians, in fact, mainly as a thank-you for all that his friends had done. Its bright, happy tone reflects the fondness he felt for his favorite church. |