Romans 15:14-33

 Romans 15:14-33

In the Protestant church, we have talked about the priesthood of all believers, that every Christian is a priest before God. Much of this has been a reaction to the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and a sort of democratic view of church leadership. Rarely do we talk about the service we all have as priests. When we do talk about the role of believers as priests, it is essentially limited to public worship service, serving communion, or some formal function in the ministry of the church worship service itself. Paul in this passage gives us a glimpse at the priestly function of the disciple, which is very different than what we see in most churches. In verses 15-16, Paul describes his role as a priest in terms of his evangelistic efforts among the Gentiles. The offering that Paul was bringing to God in his role as a priest was making disciples. Don't miss the upside-down marvel of the statement. In every other priestly sacrificial system, a physically living animal, and sadly sometimes a person, was brought before a deity where it died. Here the spiritually dead are brought to the Lord, and they are made spiritually alive. The newly enlivened sacrifice came to be the next generation of priests replicating and repeating the process.

This work is not easy but rather requires great sacrifice on the part of the priest. In verse 16 Paul uses the word “minister,” which originally was the word used to describe the patron who, for the love of his city, would pay for major public works projects, even going so far as to outfit, man, and maintain a warship. We must not imagine our role as priest is to sit comfortably in a chair and occasionally offer a prayer or read a scripture. Our role as priests is to make disciples, leading the spiritually dead to Christ where He will give them life.

Paul makes a point of telling about his future mission efforts and his hope for help from the church at Rome. The end of Acts gives us the record of what happened next for Paul, and it wasn’t what he had hoped for. But we will do well to note how Paul conducted his missions. First, Paul took the gospel to places where there was a cultural crossroads without a Christian witness. Second, he also avoided working where others did their ministry. How different we are in our churches. Nearly everything we do as believers is done in, with, and for other believers. Perhaps we should change our approach to be more like Paul’s, to go where no one speaks the good news and in that community love people into knowing Jesus.

“Lord, help me to be a good priest and minister in Your service.  AMEN”

Romans 15: 1 - 13

 Romans 15: 1 - 13

Being part of a Christian community is not easy; it isn't meant to be easy. The powers of darkness hate the church more than anything on Earth, with the possible exception of the faithful disciple. If the church were united, the powers of hell would be completely overwhelmed. We must never doubt that factions, frictions, conflicts, and quarrels within the church, both universally and locally, are a high priority in the war department of hell. Unity can't be faked. The facade may last for some time, but at the spiritual and unseen level, disunity will undermine the church.

It has been my sad responsibility, on a few occasions, to serve local congregations that underwent conflict. Long before anyone knew that there was a problem, things changed within the church. Attendance began to decline, visitors suddenly stopped coming, and the spirit or the feel was just different. God will not bless a church where his people are beating each other up. Why would He bring a new believer or someone wanting to learn about Christ to such a congregation? In these cases I have watched churches die as a result of unresolved conflict. It may take some time, but if repentance does not happen and reconciliation is not part of the church life, conflict will ultimately kill a congregation.

As long as a church is pulling together, there is hope. It may have to struggle through many hardships, and it will require perseverance in the face of external pressure, and it will need relentless encouragement within, but the church united can and will press on.

In the church in Rome, the potential for conflict was between Jews and Gentiles. With a long history of conflict, tension, and sometimes outright hate and open war, unity between Jews and Romans was going to be a challenge. But by bearing with the weak, working for the good of others, and building up each other, even this great divide could be bridged.

There is a final note we must not miss. We won't do this on our own. In verse 13, Paul tells us that it is God who fills us, and we have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have our part to play in unity. We must desire it and seek the good of our brothers and sisters. But we must not assume that some man-made contrivance or program will accomplish all that much. It is as disciples seeking God that we are empowered by Him for the unity of the church.

“Lord, give me the grace to live in unity and godly love with my brothers and sisters. AMEN”