From Servants to Saints

She has just finished an Alpha Course when her company relocates her to the other end of the country. International students in your outreach café become Christians in the final months of study and return home to Iran or France or Mexico. Your cousin, a believer, works 12-hour shifts offshore two weeks a month. Letters and emails are no substitute for face-to-face encouragement and mentoring, but sometimes there is no choice. What do you say? What is necessary to include?

Paul is a master at long-distance discipleship. He packs the conventional letter-writing style full of Gospel explosives which send shards through the rest of the letter. Unusually, he omits mention of his apostolic credentials and simply refers to himself and Timothy as “servants” of Christ, modeling equality, partnership and servant leadership. His recipients are called “saints.” Overseers and deacons are also acknowledged, but every Philippian Christian is part of God’s holy people. In the face of some selfishness and disunity, right from the start, Paul reminds them of what is more important than anything: who they are in Christ. The stereotypical greeting is transformed as they are showered with “grace and peace”–unmerited kindness, harmony and security granted through the Father and the Son. Well before the age of tweets and sound bites, Paul encapsulates the wonder of the Gospel in a couple of verses packed full of depth and glory.

If we share Paul’s concern for new believers far away, we may also be encouraged by his joy. Thankful prayer gobbles up the miles of separation. When someone becomes a Christian, God is at work, continuing what he has begun. As we pray for a believer’s protection and flourishing in Christ, as we write messages they read and reread, we can trust God to complete what he has started (6).

Is there someone far away you can encourage today? Write a note or e-mail to them and send it on its way (3-6).