When You Got A Good Friend

When you got a good friend that will stay right by your side.
When you got a good friend that will stay right by your side
Give her all of your spare time love and treat her right

Robert Johnson

11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹²that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.¹³I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Romans 1:11-15

The passage here show us a few things about what it means to live in Christ within the community of His church. I have often heard people say that the way to Christ does not involve the church. Many have been burned by other christians, myself included, yet that is no excuse to disassociate with the church, for Christ and the church are one. You cannot live a life of faith that is pleasing to God without living among and in fellowship with His holy church. I recently had a friend tell me that he didn't need church. He never told me why he didn't need it, but he did tell me that if he couldn't figure things out on his own, then he considered himself a failure. Oh, how more wrong he could be. He has already failed! In taking that step of faith, he has done it without Christ, for had he made a step of faith with Christ, he would love what Christ loves.1 Paul sees that the gospel is bound by community with Christ's followers which is why his faith is strengthened when he is around God's people.

As a pastor, Paul longs to minister to God's people. Note, he doesn't say he longs to see Rome or anyone else. He longs to see the christians of Rome, and this longing is prompted by love. As Martin Luther states, "The same longing is found in every faithful shepherd who does not seek what the sheep possess, but seeks only the sheep themselves; and this desire is prompted solely by love." By his own example he shows us the motivations of brotherly love in Christ and this should motivate our thinking and desires when we seek fellowship with the body of Christ.

The spiritual gift that Paul speaks of imparting is not a functional gift as we would find in 1 Corinthians 12. Rather, it is the exercising of a functional gift and the benefits received in relation to ministry. We all have gifts that God has given us to strengthen the body of Christ. It is our duty to exercise these gifts in love and not in any form of carnality that would lead to self promotion. One thing that must be stated in regards to spiritual gifts. They were given to strengthen, to sharpen, and to exhort believers. Their use in any other capacity, such as speaking tongues without an interpreter, are a perversion and misuse of the gift. Paul is clear that he seeks to impart this gift to strengthen the believers in Rome. By doing so, he strengthens his own faith, because as the Proverb states, "Iron sharpens iron."2

In verses 13-15, Paul states his intent to come to Rome and the prevention of his coming. We can presume that he was ultimately prevented from going to Rome by God, for we know from Acts and this letter, that Paul felt his ministry leading him to Rome. Often, our ideas of what we want to do and where we want to go are not God's. Instead of being frustrated, Paul exemplifies godly patience, in waiting for the Lord. We are commanded numerous times to 'wait on the Lord.' It is in our nature not to wait, to bite back at God, and demand that He give us what we think we need. Our culture brainwashes us into thinking we are far more important than we really are. We are bombarded with messages that tell us to have it our way and that our desires should be acted on. This impulsiveness did not plague Paul and it should not plague us. Though Paul felt obligated to preach Christ and to reap a harvest among the gentiles, Paul knew his place in God's kingdom and knew that all the works of his hands are frivolous wastes of time without first waiting on direction from the Lord.

Paul's obligation to preach is bound in his debt. He is indebted to Christ to minister to Jew and Gentile alike. We, too, are obliged to preach the gospel to both believer and non-believer alike, for we too are indebted to Christ. This preaching of the gospel refers to so much more than how we use are words. We see in the passage that Paul equates ministering and preaching to imparting of spiritual gifts in order to strengthen. His example not only shows the Romans of his sincerity in coming to them, but serves to show us how we are to serve one another, with humility and love. And with this powerful statement, Paul closes his introduction to the Roman church.

1.Ephesians 5:25-27

2. Proverbs 27:17