Seeing People

"I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another." That's what Paul says to his readers in Romans 15:14. It makes me think, as I often do, how unusual Paul was.

When it comes to church members (and I guess coworkers and sometimes family and friends) I'm seldom satisfied that my brothers are full of goodness. I tend to see their lack of punctuality, their procrastination, their inability to keep promises, and all of their other flaws, great and small, as evidence that they're nowhere near as good as they should be.

I don't give them much props on being filled with all knowledge either. In fact, I too often have the arrogant but probably common belief that people are clueless. It's easy to think if I want something done right I need to do it myself.

But Paul had been working with these people intensely, over a period of time, with one single goal: to work himself out of a job. He didn't want to be stuck nursing them along for the rest of his life. He wanted to get on to the next place, get started with the next church plant. He says so in verse 20, where he states his ambition as preaching the gospel where Christ has not already been named.

To do that, Paul mentored church leaders who would take care of this fledgling flock when he left, and members to care for one another. And he's saying here that his work is done.

Maybe that's the most unusual thing, the ease with which he lets go. I commanded a battalion for a few years, then passed the guidon to a new commander. I walked away full of regret, sorry to be leaving and certain the new guy was going to mess it up. I avoided my old battalion for a long time because it was like seeing someone date my girlfriend.

The difference between me and Paul: I was working for myself. He was working for the Lord, and had no other ambition. He was driven to build not his own empire but Christ's kingdom. And he was blessed to see people through Christ's eyes. 

I'm working on that.