Kindred Spirits
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus!
Today we have an encouraging word from Paul while it is at the same time a discouraging word. Paul speaks words of praise for Timothy as his coworker. He speaks disparaging words concerning others who are working in the church.
The whole text reads as follows, But I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:19-21
It is one of the challenging dynamics in the Gospel ministry that no preacher stays at the same place forever. The call of service unto Jesus means for the person, called and their family, a nomadic life. Just for the purpose of example, I graduated seminary in 1992. I have served in the church for 32 years. Counting my move to the seminary in St. Louis and from there moving forward I have lived in ten different cities. The nomadic life is not for everyone but for anyone who is in service to God it is part of the calling placed upon a life.
All this being said, Paul rarely stayed in one place for more than two years. His calling was to lay the foundation for a new church, raise up leaders, and move on to a new mission field. His average length of service in any one place was about 18 months.
One of the challenges for any preacher, and you hear this in Paul’s words, is the struggle of leaving behind people you love and hearing of negative things happing in a field once so fruitful. Now while we would never want a previous minister to meddle in a church and thus disrupt the ministry of the current pastor, a previous minister should have the confidence that the same Gospel is being proclaimed for the blessing of the people. When it becomes evident the opposite is taking place it is a grievous thing for the servant who labored so faithfully. This is exactly what is happening in the life of the apostle Paul.
He bemoans the fact that there are few servants whom he can trust. This is why he leaned so heavily on Timothy. He had raised Timothy up and trained him to be a servant in the church. Timothy will serve as a pastor for many years following the martyrdom of Paul. But at this point in Timothy's life, he is the traveling companion of Paul and his constant aid and support. Paul knows if he sends Timothy to Philippi, he will not only encourage the believers there with the Gospel, but he will bring back an accurate report to Paul on what is actually taking place in the church.
It is a difficult thing for us to understand that the church is a seed bed for both the work of God and corruption. Things done in the name of religion can be glorious or devastating. There have been many, many preachers who have served faithfully all their lives and die as paupers with joy in their heart. At the same time there have been many, many preachers who have worked their angle and become extremely wealthy and when they die, they leave a legacy of destruction.
What is hard to understand is the preacher who isolates people in order to control and manipulate them, holding them under his power and influence. This is what was happening in the day of Paul. The moment Jesus established His Church, Satan began working to destroy it.
There were those even in Philippi who would receive Timothy with great joy, and others who would reject his presence. There were already servants in the church who were teaching that the apostles did not get the Gospel correct. They, the current preacher, was the only one who had the truth, and the members of the church should listen to no one else, especially the apostles or their messengers.
Can you even imagine the members of a church being told to reject the apostles and their message? Yet this is what was happening and why Paul is so concerned. Are we so naive to believe it doesn't happen today. Wherever the true Gospel is proclaimed there will be those who oppose it. The preacher who pounds the pulpit and tells you to open your wallet so that God may open the windows of heaven for you, does not like the message of salvation by grace through faith freely given. The preacher that wants to control everything does not want the members of the church involved in everything, freely using their God-given talents to serve the Lord.
Concerning these preachers Paul says, For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. Woe to those who lead the sheep astray! I recall something from the lips of Jesus about a millstone!
When Paul speaks of Timothy being a kindred spirit he is speaking of someone who thinks the same way and who feels the same way. This is a person who is a true brother in Christ who will say and do exactly as you would expect of him or as you yourself would do if you were there! Paul has absolute confidence in Timothy and how he will conduct himself as a servant of Christ.
This is what is greatly missing in the church today! Not just among preachers! While those serving in the church need other leaders to be “kindred spirits” and to have the type of relationships that we see between Paul and Timothy, the person in the pew needs this as well. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who will be faithful to God and faithful to us as friends. We need people to whom we can turn in difficult times who will come along side of us to encourage and strengthen us.
Think of how much greater the Gospel ministry in our own church would be if we were living in relationships like this with one another! Imagine how greatly God could work in a place where people are standing together with only one goal – that of serving in the kingdom of God. May we become even as Paul and Timothy were and may God enlarge His kingdom through us!
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
Today we have an encouraging word from Paul while it is at the same time a discouraging word. Paul speaks words of praise for Timothy as his coworker. He speaks disparaging words concerning others who are working in the church.
The whole text reads as follows, But I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:19-21
It is one of the challenging dynamics in the Gospel ministry that no preacher stays at the same place forever. The call of service unto Jesus means for the person, called and their family, a nomadic life. Just for the purpose of example, I graduated seminary in 1992. I have served in the church for 32 years. Counting my move to the seminary in St. Louis and from there moving forward I have lived in ten different cities. The nomadic life is not for everyone but for anyone who is in service to God it is part of the calling placed upon a life.
All this being said, Paul rarely stayed in one place for more than two years. His calling was to lay the foundation for a new church, raise up leaders, and move on to a new mission field. His average length of service in any one place was about 18 months.
One of the challenges for any preacher, and you hear this in Paul’s words, is the struggle of leaving behind people you love and hearing of negative things happing in a field once so fruitful. Now while we would never want a previous minister to meddle in a church and thus disrupt the ministry of the current pastor, a previous minister should have the confidence that the same Gospel is being proclaimed for the blessing of the people. When it becomes evident the opposite is taking place it is a grievous thing for the servant who labored so faithfully. This is exactly what is happening in the life of the apostle Paul.
He bemoans the fact that there are few servants whom he can trust. This is why he leaned so heavily on Timothy. He had raised Timothy up and trained him to be a servant in the church. Timothy will serve as a pastor for many years following the martyrdom of Paul. But at this point in Timothy's life, he is the traveling companion of Paul and his constant aid and support. Paul knows if he sends Timothy to Philippi, he will not only encourage the believers there with the Gospel, but he will bring back an accurate report to Paul on what is actually taking place in the church.
It is a difficult thing for us to understand that the church is a seed bed for both the work of God and corruption. Things done in the name of religion can be glorious or devastating. There have been many, many preachers who have served faithfully all their lives and die as paupers with joy in their heart. At the same time there have been many, many preachers who have worked their angle and become extremely wealthy and when they die, they leave a legacy of destruction.
What is hard to understand is the preacher who isolates people in order to control and manipulate them, holding them under his power and influence. This is what was happening in the day of Paul. The moment Jesus established His Church, Satan began working to destroy it.
There were those even in Philippi who would receive Timothy with great joy, and others who would reject his presence. There were already servants in the church who were teaching that the apostles did not get the Gospel correct. They, the current preacher, was the only one who had the truth, and the members of the church should listen to no one else, especially the apostles or their messengers.
Can you even imagine the members of a church being told to reject the apostles and their message? Yet this is what was happening and why Paul is so concerned. Are we so naive to believe it doesn't happen today. Wherever the true Gospel is proclaimed there will be those who oppose it. The preacher who pounds the pulpit and tells you to open your wallet so that God may open the windows of heaven for you, does not like the message of salvation by grace through faith freely given. The preacher that wants to control everything does not want the members of the church involved in everything, freely using their God-given talents to serve the Lord.
Concerning these preachers Paul says, For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. Woe to those who lead the sheep astray! I recall something from the lips of Jesus about a millstone!
When Paul speaks of Timothy being a kindred spirit he is speaking of someone who thinks the same way and who feels the same way. This is a person who is a true brother in Christ who will say and do exactly as you would expect of him or as you yourself would do if you were there! Paul has absolute confidence in Timothy and how he will conduct himself as a servant of Christ.
This is what is greatly missing in the church today! Not just among preachers! While those serving in the church need other leaders to be “kindred spirits” and to have the type of relationships that we see between Paul and Timothy, the person in the pew needs this as well. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who will be faithful to God and faithful to us as friends. We need people to whom we can turn in difficult times who will come along side of us to encourage and strengthen us.
Think of how much greater the Gospel ministry in our own church would be if we were living in relationships like this with one another! Imagine how greatly God could work in a place where people are standing together with only one goal – that of serving in the kingdom of God. May we become even as Paul and Timothy were and may God enlarge His kingdom through us!
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
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