Others Always

“For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.” (Php 2:26 AV)

The thoughts here are similar to the insight which the Spirit gave just a couple of days ago.  A bit of context here lays the foundation.  The verse above is speaking of a man named Epaphroditus who was sent from Philippi to Paul.  While Paul was imprisoned in Rome, the people of God from various churches sent relief.  Paul was under house arrest and had no means of income.  Therefore, the people of God banded together to meet his needs.  This church at Philippi sent relief by the hand of Epaphroditus which resulted in him arriving in Rome and to Paul in a near death condition.  It appears by what Paul states in verse twenty-eight, Epaphroditus may have gotten deathly ill, in part, because the means of his travels to Rome were perhaps a bit on the unsafe side.  Perhaps he took passage on a ship that was inexpensive, but a bit less sanitary.  Who knows?  What we do know is that when he arrived at Paul’s side he was near death.  What we want to see here is that Epaphroditus was not disturbed by his illness as he was how it would affect the people back in his own church.  He didn’t want them to be in sorrow.  He was more concerned how his illness influenced those who sent him than he was for his own safety.

 In addition, Paul states he was also in heaviness because of Epaphroditus’ illness and Philippi’s worry.  The church at Philippi was worried for Paul as evidenced by the gift that was sent and in sorrow over their fellow member.  Epaphroditus was moved at Paul’s condition and the sorrow of his own church folk back home.  What a beautiful picture of mutual concern the people of God should have towards one another.  To be more concerned for others than we are for ourselves is an indication of true mature faith.  Not to belabor the example, but the mind goes again to my dear mother.  We had a conversation years back when she found out she had cancer.  She was weeding through the options she had for treatment and was asking my opinion.  I remembered the example of a lecturer from an end of life session given at a medical ethics conference.  The debate over end of life decisions was quality of life verses purpose of life.  This lecturer used the example of Christ on the cross.  His quality of life was horrible.  He was beaten, bruised, and mercilessly abused.  Yet, his purpose of life was to suffer the wrath of the Father for the salvation of mankind.   Anyway, this spoke to my mother.  She still had things to do for her family and care for her husband that she felt gave her purpose.  She was more concerned for her family than she was her own health.

 This is quite a reversal from how our present generation processes their world.  There was a term given to the generation we call the Baby Boomers.  It is called the ‘me’ generation.  This generation followed the greatest generation who fought in WWII.  Now, the millennials are referred to as the ‘me, me, me’ generation.  Three times worse than their parents.  We have moved away from processing our world from the perspective of others and see our world only in terms of how it affects self.  No wonder ministries are shrinking.  Jesus Christ well said in Matthew chapter twenty-four and verse twelve, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”  All we have to do is have a little bit of adversity invade our peace and prosperity and it will reveal just how deeply we care for others.  Paul, Epaphroditus, and the church and Philippi put themselves last and cared more for others than they did themselves.  That is the heart of Christ!