Weekly Meditations: Romans 16; Community

Hopefully if you are reading this, you have first read Romans chapter 16; otherwise it may be a little harder to follow for you.  Romans 16 is split into two different, but very similar parts.  The first 16 verses is a list of people Paul asks to send his greeting to, the second is a commendation plus greetings to the Romans from people with Paul or people Paul has recently seen.

While the messages in this passage are obviously personal, such as "greet Herodion my relative" (11), I think that the idea behind this passage is most important.  What I mean is that as a global church, a local church and an individual Christian, we should be in constant Christian community.  Now do I mean we should spend 24/7 with other Christians?  No!  But I do think our lives should be first centered around Christ, based strongly in a local church and interested in the global church as a whole.

We have spent the last several weeks looking at what it means to be a Christian (among other things) so I think my first point is simply a given.  We need to have our lives centered around Christ.  This should also mean that we are a part of a local church, and I think this passage shows what that looks like in a healthy way.  Christians shouldn't simply go to a church, sit through the service and leave straight after, they should be investing time in the church and in relationships.  Our Christian relationships are some of the most important relationships we have because they are with peers who share the same important view on God and on salvation so that they can help us make wise choices, decisions etc.  Paul has a huge list of people to greet, he didn't do this by simply filling a pew for an hour.  Make sure that you are plugged into a bible believing and preaching local church and try to get involved.

We also should have larger connections as well.  We see in Paul's letter a number of people wanting to send greeting to the Romans.  In a local church we will have partners in the gospel, other churches around us that we partner with to further Christ in our city.  We also hopefully have missionaries and even global churches that we too partner with.  I think it is very important to be connected as well as keep a global mind, and a mind open to missions.

Quite simply, as Christians, we need to be connected.  Connected with Christ, connected with other Christians, connected with other churches and connected with other countries and cultures.