Based on Romans 15:22-33 (New King James Version)
“For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”
What should a disciple of Christ be doing? Should we only worry about spiritual needs, and nothing else? Should we only be concerned with the physical needs of a person? What is our duty with those that do not know the Gospel, and moreover, with those people that oppose what God teaches? What should the real function be for each individual follower and group of Christ followers? We will try to explain concisely.
The first point is that we need to understand that God is not looking for mere believers, because being a believer does not really do much. Even more so, the Bible teaches us that the demons believe and fear God, who ironically show much more acknowledgement to the Most High than many human beings, and so called “believers”. God is looking for disciples, people that allow for themselves to be taught by God, subjected to Him and to His principles. So then, we should not just believe, but rather, we should learn and practice what He teaches us. And in this case, the disciple does not put limits on what he is asked to do. If you give God limits, telling him that a certain thing is not your calling, or that you do not want to do what He is asking, or that those things were meant more for the apostles like Paul and others, I regret to tell you, but you should think about what your faith is really about. But at minimum, there is a serious spiritual problem. If there is no subjection to God, then there is no discipleship. And if there is no discipleship, then the person is not forming part of what could be useful to God. And if they cannot be useful to God, then, what good are they for? Everything in God has a purpose. God does not need decorations, and He is not looking for them either.
The second point, if one is truly a disciple of Christ, is that they should always be on the move. If a person just came to Christ, then they need to eat and grow, by looking for the Word of God, because that is the only way that person can grow. And while they grow, they need to move. The physical world teaches this concept quite clearly. If you don’t eat, you die. If you eat and don’t move, sooner or later, you will get sick and die also. A person needs to eat and move regularly in order to be healthy. It’s exactly the same way in the spiritual sense.
So then, how should we be moving? In many things. If we see the passage and provide answers to the questions at the beginning, the answer is that we should be doing everything. As disciples of the Lord, and as a group of disciples (the local church), we need to be concerned with spiritual and physical needs, without exceptions. We should as individuals, and as a group, help in everything possible, including sharing the Gospel with those people that don’t know the Lord yet. And as Paul did, if we find no place to preach where we are at, then we need to go somewhere else, but we need to look. Today, you can reach practically anyone in the world through the television, through radio, through the internet, through the telephone, through email (like we are doing here), by text, etc. There are no limits! If Paul would have had the capabilities we have today, the world would be a very different place. We have to pray for one another, helping each other in our needs. And of course, we should love our enemies. It’s not part of God’s teachings to protest to defend His things. What God teaches is that we win the world and our enemies through prayer, on our knees, with a true testimony, practicing the Word of God; and not using the weapons of this world. Christ never protested, nor did He inspire others to do it. There was never a march or soliciting politicians. The war should be won through good, and nothing else.
In the end, is it easy to follow the Lord and be His disciple? Of course not. No one said it would be easy. The Lord never preached a gospel of world peace, of prosperity, and that everything would be perfect here. It’s difficult to follow Christ. The hope is not on things here. Paul said this: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” 1 Corinthians 15:19. He said this because following Christ does have a price also. Everything in this life costs something. But we have to bear in mind the following: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:7-14.
What God has for us in the future, for those that follow Him faithfully, is of much more value than what this world can ever offer us. So then, are you fulfilling your divine responsibilities, for your own good, and for the good of those around you? Lord bless! John