I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. (Romans 1:11-12, NIV)
With only a couple of hours of daylight to squeeze in some golf at our Links Players staff meeting to start the month, we grouped up into two fivesomes and played a scramble.
Let me just say that when half the staff has played on professional tours or served for years as club professionals, this is no merry jaunt. We’re playing for keeps. Well, OK, we’re playing for who buys the yogurt at the end of the night—but you understand.
That said, just like in any scramble event, it’s a blast to see who brings what to the table. You may have a couple of thoroughbreds on your team, and you likely have at least one bomber, but it’s the stunning 60-foot putt by your high handicapper or the chip-in on the hole where you were in danger of losing a shot to par that makes for a winning team. Those who capture the spoils are those who share widest the game they’ve taken up together.
Beautifully, the same is true when it comes to our faith. Life in Christ is lived better when it is lived in community with others. Faith in Christ is best realized when it is shared from one believer to another.
The words of the apostle Paul to the believers in Rome as he opened his powerful letter to them are almost impossible to imagine in today’s world of celebrity leadership. This cultural condition exists even in the church, where the separation between those up front and those in the seats can be one of holy and not-so-holy. In a more traditional setting, we might see it as the clergy-laity divide. But it doesn’t matter what we call it; Paul would have none of it.
What Paul taught, both in Romans and more specifically in 1 Corinthians, is that while believers all possessed gifts and roles, they did not have relative positions. Each could minister to another. Indeed, each should minister to another.
Look at Paul’s words again. He wanted the believers in Rome to minister to him every bit as much as he wanted to minister to them. This was mutual ministry, given to one another.
Consider, then, how you should be approaching the group of faith with which you meet, be it a large church, a small group, or maybe a Links Fellowship. First, recognize that your faith is valuable to everyone there. It is our faith, Paul wrote, that encourages one another. Second, come in humility, either as a seasoned disciple of Christ who needs to be welcoming others who are newer in their walk, or as a new child of God who does well to defer to “the wisdom of the elders.” Third, come ready—to gain and to give. None of us should be sitting back or taking over. We meet before Christ himself, sharing and sharing alike.
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Jeff Hopper
February 28, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.