A Mutual Encouragement

 “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

(‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:11-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

As we choose a church, and as we participate and interact with our church, we typically have one goal in mind: We want to be fed. We want to receive from the church. We want to be blessed by the church and its ministries.

We look for a church that checks off all of the boxes. Does it have a men’s ministry? Does it have a women’s ministry? Is there a Sunday School program? Is there an active youth ministry for our kids? Is there a nursery? Is there a music program? Are their small groups? And the list goes on and on.

If the church can’t fill all of our needs, we leave. If we don’t feel that we’re being fed, we leave. And we go off in search of a new church that will better do so.

Please don’t misunderstand where I’m going with this. We should be fed by our church. We should be blessed by it. If we have kids, and there is absolutely nothing for them at the church, it’s understandable that this might concern us.

The problem, however, is when we seek only to receive, and not to give. The problem is when we seek only to be served, and not to serve. The problem is when we seek only to be fed, and not to feed others.

We see in the above passage that, as Paul sought to visit the church at Rome, he desired to bless them. He wanted to impart some gift to them. He wanted to encourage them in their faith.

However, we see that he expected to receive from them as well. He sought their encouragement for his own faith. He desired that they might be a mutual blessing to one another.

You might object to what I’m saying, noting that Paul was an apostle. He was called by God to serve and to minister. And, for this reason, it’s only natural that he would desire to be a blessing to this congregation.

We must realize, however, that even if we aren’t an apostle like Paul, and even if we aren’t a pastor or a missionary, we are called by God to serve the church. We are called to be a blessing to others in the body of Christ.

Our concern, then, as we search for a church, our concern as we participate and interact with our church, should not be only what we might receive. We should concern ourselves also with what we might give. We should concern ourselves with being a blessing to others. And, in this way, we will be mutually encouraged. We will be mutually built up in faith.