Two-Way Street


Romans 1:8-15
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
10always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each others' faith, both yours and mine.
13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

One of the pitfalls of being in a “professional ministry” position is that one-way street of giving spiritual care. Now that I’ve typed that sentence my mind swirls with possible tactics for explaining that lifestyle and I’m certain that those of us who are paid as church workers (or married to one) are not the only ones who experience this situation. We constantly reach out with the Gospel. We constantly ask others how they are doing and then patiently listen as they pour out their cares and concerns. And you know what – we want to hear them! We really do care and we really do pray about those things. We are honored when people share their lives with us. But how often do we allow that care and concern to flow in the opposite direction; or how often are we even offered that same opportunity? Right here in the beginning of Romans Paul addresses that exact situation and through the power of the Holy Spirit he offers us a new way to look at that scenario.

First and foremost, Paul is always grateful to God for all that HE is doing in the faith lives of His people. Paul even takes an oath(!) regarding his own prayer life for other believers. He desperately wants to be with the Romans in person in order to impart spiritual gifts and strength to the people. Then suddenly he changes direction in verse 12. He wants to see a two-way street established here. He wants to see mutual encouragement; a path that goes both ways from Paul to the Romans and back again. He sees that as a real possibility and plans to pursue that goal. And thus we too are challenged in that direction as well.

I might suggest (and I do this with some trepidation) that we in the “profession” of ministry might want to examine our own motives for being reticent to receive spiritual care from others. It might even lie in the arena of pride. It’s okay for me to reach out to you and be the spiritual strength that brings encouragement and care; but if the care flows in the opposite direction I might blow that off as unnecessary. That, my friends, is pride in action. Paul seems to be inviting such care and will obviously embrace it if given. His humility here is pretty impressive. And as I read back over this I am aware that this post might only be about me and my own pride issues. (But I really don’t think so.) Again the Word turns us back to reality. We are all struggling humans who are in need of each other. No one person (except Jesus Christ) has everything we need. So no matter which side of this fence you stand on, reach across the rails to your brothers and sisters on the other side. Be both giver and receiver. If it was good enough for Paul, it’s good enough for us!

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