Partnership and Growth
Day and weeks continue to pass by on my road to recovery. I am finding it interesting how quickly some of the days go by. I finished my Colorado Income Tax return today, so I believe I am all finished with tax business for now.
This afternoon, I had a visit from one of Debbie’s colleagues who focuses on the area of Palliative Care for individuals with more complicated medical cases. We are looking at taking advantage of this care team to try to manage a long list of medications, multiple doctors and hopefully avoid any more hospitalizations. I am finding that the managing of your medical care is a important as access to medical care. The coordination between doctors is a vital aspect of health care that doesn’t happen automatically.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…
 “I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.” (Philemon 6 NIV)
This verse may be one of the more familiar ones in this short epistle of Paul’s. Philemon was a follower of Christ who was known for his faith and his love for God’s people. In the opening verses of this letter verse 6 stands out as an appropriate prayer for Philemon and a reminder to us about the value of our connection to other believers.
1.     Partnership is based on a common faith – “…partnership… in the faith…”
One of my favorite concepts of the body of Christ is found in the word partnership. My congregations probably became weary of me using that term. Perhaps it was from my nontheological background of a business degree and understanding the challenges and opportunities when individuals join in a partnership for business success. Each contributes their own skills and resources and a synergy takes place where the sum of the whole is greater than any of the parts. This dynamic in reality is a Biblical concept that we find in 1 Corinthians 12 when Paul talks about the body of Christ.
But this partnership in Christ is not based on being “friends” or having something in common, or the right person to fill a job; it is based on being part of God’s family of faith.
It has been observed that you can’t choose the members of your natural family members and you can’t choose those in your spiritual family.
2. Partnerships must be effective – “I pray that your partnership with us…may be effective.”
Partnerships can be challenging, they are difficult at times; success is not automatic. But we see in Philemon what it takes for partnerships to be effective: faith in God and love for others. Faith focuses our attention on God and not on ourselves. We realize that it is God who is at work in this enterprise known as the Church. Love focuses our attention away from ourselves to others. God’s love enables us to be accepting and forgiving and to build others up according to their needs. (Eph. 4:32)
3.      Partnership gives us insight into the blessings of Christ – “…deeper understanding of every blessing which we have in our life in union with Christ.” (Philemon6 GNT)
We can’t, we won’t have an understanding and appreciation of the blessings we have in our life in Christ outside of the relationships we have with others. Sometimes those “blessings” come through hardship or heartache. Sometimes they come with victories and being enriched by others as we invest in others. Connection with others is a sign of spiritual maturity. Paul wrote to the Corinthians…
“Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand.” (2 Cor. 10:15)
Growing faith results in a greater commitment to Christ’s work and Christ’s body. There seems to be this cycle where in we find that the greater our commitment is to the body of Christ, the stronger our faith…the stronger our faith the greater our commitment to the body of Christ. We learn, worship, grow, serve in relationship with others. That’s God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Paul’s prayer is an appropriate one for our lives as well as Philemon’s.