Tuesdays from Phil 1 - Deep and abiding relationship within the Church

It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:7-8

We can look at the Church, the Body of Christ, from two perspectives and I think each add to its beauty and its value. First is viewing the Church from Christ's perspective. He views us as his Bride, his Body and even as his very self. He takes our growth in holiness very seriously and does everything to protect us and provide for us, to sustain us and deliver us. In a word, Jesus is the ultimate, consummate Husband.

If the perspective above can be described as the vertical perspective, there is also a horizontal perspective. It would be how we, as members of the Church, view, relate and treat one another. This is where Paul's thoughts in Phil 1 kick in. Having the vertical dimension firmly in place, he expresses at least part of the horizontal dimension to his Philippian audience and to us. Clearly, Paul views the Church as a partnership in spreading the gospel, as we saw last week, but he is not simply utilitarian. Other people are not just a means to an end.  They are the end. "You are all partakers with me in grace"  For Paul, the cliche, the ground is level at the foot of the Cross, was true.

But there's more to this horizontal dimension. If we truly grasp the magnitude of the vertical dimension, if we truly realize that the Church is not simply a collection of people who share the same theology, but a dynamic, living entity that Jesus is creating for His glory and loves with the intensity of a husband for his wife, a parent for their child even as his own self, and if we begin to understand that we are partners in the gospel, then we will begin to comprehend the yearning that Paul had for the Philippians.

To be honest, I am nowhere near the perspective I just wrote. The Church to easily becomes a function or a facility or a few people that I know. Seriously, when is the last time I used (or even thought of using) the word "yearn" in connection with the Church? Maybe it will be today.

Father, we are too easily caught up in our own plans and agendas. We too easily forget that Christianity is not millions of people individually reaching out to you. Help us, help me, get a clearer vision of what you are doing  in and through the Church. And, by your grace, let us yearn for one another, that we may all grow more in love with Jesus and to be more humbly devoted to each other for His sake and for your glory.

To God Alone be the Glory