The Bible makes it clear that in the early church there was a lot
of contact between Christians who lived far away from each other. There is no doubt that Christians took great
interest in how their brothers and sisters in all sorts of places were getting
on. And it is clear that they often took
steps to help them, even when they were separated by long distances.
Greetings
In the endings of most of the New Testament letters, for example, greetings
are sent between fellow believers. And often
these Christians lived far apart.
In some passages, those sending greetings and those being greeted
are named individually. See Romans 16:3-15,
21-23; 1 Corinthians 16:19, 21; Colossians 4:10-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; 2
Timothy 4:19-21; Philemon 23-24.
We also find more general greetings between churches or groups of
Christians. See Romans 16:16; 1
Corinthians 16:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:12-13; Philippians 4:21-22; 1
Thessalonians 5:26; Titus 3:15; Hebrews 13:24; 1 Peter 5:13-14; 2 John 13; 3
John 15.
These greetings strongly imply that the early Christians were
genuinely interested in each other, even if they lived far apart or had never
met.
Praying for each other
In the Bible we also find a concern that Christians pray widely
for each other. Especially noteworthy is
Ephesians 6:18, where Paul tells the Ephesians:
‘Pray in the Spirit at all times with every prayer and request. And with this in view, be alert with great endurance in all your requests for all the saints . . .’
Nothing in the context of this verse suggests that ‘all the
saints’ should be interpreted in a limited way.
Paul is clearly instructing his readers to pray for Christians
throughout the known world.
Paul’s collection
Important too is Paul’s collection for the churches in Judea . He spent years collecting money from various congregations
for the impoverished Judean believers. See
Romans 15:25-31; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 2:10.
This collection allowed wealthier Christians to practically
express their love for their brothers and sisters in need. And it also served to strengthen relationships
between the Judean churches and those elsewhere, many of which were some
months’ journey from Judea .
Close, loving contact
In the early church, then, Christians typically took a real
interest in what was happening with other believers in far-flung places. And they did this even when the others were
personally unknown to them. What is
more, they often took steps to help fellow Christians in prayer and more
practically too, including those who lived far away.
There was clearly a sense of love, unity and family among God’s
people that didn’t take account of physical distances between them.
We should all follow
this example
In a real sense the world today is a much smaller place than it
was in the days of the early church. We
can fly to the opposite side of the globe in 24 hours, and we can communicate
with someone there in a matter of seconds.
We are therefore much more able to find out what is happening with
Christians in various parts of the world than was possible in the first
century.
Given that getting information is relatively easy, and given the biblical
emphasis on Christians taking a close interest in each other, there is really
no excuse for us today not to find out what is going on with our brothers and
sisters the world over. We should be learning
what is happening to Christians in various places and praying for them. And, where possible, we should be helping
those who are in material need.
Of course, there are many more places in the world today where there
is a Christian presence than there were in the first century. And we can’t be expected to know what is
going on in every single place.
But God surely expects us all to find out at least some basic information
about the circumstances of Christians in various countries. And He surely wants us to pray for the church
in the whole world, even if not specifically for believers in every individual
country.
For Christians to take no more than a passing interest in the
lives of brothers and sisters in foreign countries is to act very differently
from the early church. And it fails to
take proper account of Ephesians 4:4, which tells us that there is one body,
i.e., church, in the world. It also
seems quite selfish for anyone to focus almost all their attention on their own
country.
Practical examples
Finding out about what is happening with Christians all over the
world can often be very encouraging.
For example, at the present time the church in many places is
growing quickly. Knowing something about
what is happening in Brazil Uganda Nepal
On the other hand, knowing about the huge difficulties and
persecution faced by Christians in some countries is also very important. For example, if we are aware of what
Christians in North Korea Pakistan Iran
Nor should our interest in world affairs be limited to what is
happening to Christians. We need to be
aware of the major goings-on among non-Christians too, especially so that we
can pray for them.
In 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Paul instructs Timothy:
‘. . . I urge that requests, prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority . . .’
Clearly, if we know something about what is happening in various
countries, we will be able to pray more effectively for their governments. And we will know better how to pray in other
ways as well.
Giving of ourselves
Making the effort to learn about and pray for Christians and
others in distant places will mean giving of ourselves to a certain extent. But we must remember Jesus’ promise in Luke
6:38:
‘Give and it will be given to you.’
Giving to and for others is bound to be good for us too. Nor does learning about and helping those in
far away places have to be a burdensome or particularly time-consuming thing.
Let us all, then, like believers in the early years of the church,
make it our aim to be world Christians. If
every Christian took this attitude, God’s church would surely become much
stronger.
See also:
