The People in the Middle of our Theology
God is telling us something here. Our friends are important to us.
The People in the Middle of our Theology
An interesting thing about the book of Romans is that the last chapter contains very little doctrine or theology. Chapter 16 is comprised almost entirely of Paul’s greetings to various people that he had encountered along the way.
It’s interesting because of the level of detail that went into this chapter. Consider the importance of the book of Romans. The entire Bible leads us to this book. In fact, It could be argued the Book of Romans is the single most important piece of literature that has ever been written. It is the high-water mark of the entire Bible - the apex of the scriptures - yet, the entire last chapter is just Paul saying “hi” to some people.
That tells us a great deal about how God operates. The most important work of theology that the world has ever known takes a timeout so that Paul can give a shout out to his friends.
God is telling us something here. Our friends are important to us. Isn’t this how we should all operate in life? No matter how important our own needs, no matter how significant the work of the ministry, no matter who we are or what we are doing, we must always remember what was important to God and to Paul.
God has always been all about caring for the people. Nothing we do makes any difference if it doesn’t impact the people who are around us. What difference does any doctrine make if it doesn’t affect people’s lives?
The message is simply this: make sure you treat every person as if they are the most important person in the room. The treasure of the church is not in it’s programs, it’s classes, it’s events, it’s rituals or even in it’s boards and staff members. It’s invested in the lives of the people.
If God made room in His Holy Bible, the masterpiece of theology, to say hello to a few people, can’t we do the same in our own lives?
Remember that in life. Build your relationships, pray for those around you, love the people God has surrounded you with and put people first. God will be honored by that and the rest will follow.
Romans 16:21
“Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.”
