Philippians 2:19-21 (ESV)
[19] I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I
too may be cheered by news of you. [20] For I have no one like him, who will be
genuinely concerned for your welfare. [21] For they all seek their own
interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
When I read this in the past my attention was always on Timothy.
Reading it today it occurred to me to ask who the others are. Who are those who
seek their own interests? Why are they not as committed as Timothy? The second
thing that occurred to me was that Paul didn’t have a perfect church either. So
often we hear that we just need to get back to the church in Acts. Really? The
dysfunctional church of Acts 6 that was racially divided and neglected to feed
some of their widows? That church in Acts? Or the divided and immoral church of
Corinth? Or maybe we mean ministry like Paul in a Roman prison whose disciples
were more interested in themselves than in serving others. There has always
been dysfunction in the church. There have always been those who were more
interested in themselves than in ministry. There have always been differences
and divisions within the church. We are no different than they were. What seems
significant in this passage is that He does not seem to be discouraged by those
who have much yet to learn. Rather, he is rejoicing over the Philippian
believers even though they too have a lot to learn and a long way to grow. If
we are waiting for a perfect church, we have a long wait. Perhaps it is our
presence that keeps it from being perfect. May we, like Timothy not like Paul’s
other disciples, be ready to serve and more concerned about others than about ourselves.
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