The Pursuit of Happiness Daily Devotional -40

PHILIPPIANS 4:14-16 | ¹⁴ In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress. ¹⁵ You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. ¹⁶ For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once.

For most of his pastoral career, Paul was literally a tentmaker. There were no professional clergy, but the church quickly recognized that some tasks required full-time attention. In his case, this meant evangelizing to people, forming converts into communities, mentoring leaders, and then helping those churches to grow and develop. So Paul’s general policy was self-support and he made an exception for a few congregations, with whom he entered into special relationships. This was helpful to Paul, increasing his time and availability for his work, and it was exciting for the Philippians because they had a share in all that he did in other cities and a connection to all the other churches he planted and cultivated. This was the beginning of church networks, and the start of ecumenical relations.

Why are relationships with other churches important?

Thank you for allowing me and our other staff members to be full-time!

Tags: church, relationships