We are coming from a passage where Paul talked about the difficult situation he was experiencing because of Christ and what that church was also experiencing. He said they are going through what they saw him go through.
And the verse after this is about Paul telling the church what they should do to make him happy. But in this verse, he is telling them what that would mean to him.
This verse is loaded with emotive words: encouragement, comfort, fellowship, affection, and mercy.
He is saying that he needs all those things. And don’t we all? Don’t we all need encouragement? Do you want to be around people who want to tell you that because you are not a superstar, you should not even try?
- Think about David when he was enquiring about Goliath, and his brother did not even stand the question, thinking his place was with sheep (1 Samuel 17:26-30).
- Think about the brothers of Jesus who did not believe in him and maybe thought He was just a showman, seeking popularity (John 7:3-5). They did not get his motivation and thought He was similarly motivated like they were.
Paul’s encouragement will come when the church is standing, together, in truth, and not backing down from pushing against lies, which we will come to in the next verse.
He wants the stories he would hear about them to lift up his spirit rather than dampen it. And that is reasonable. Remember that he labored in this place, and in another place, he said that he was afraid maybe his effort had been in vain (1 Thessalonians 3:5, Galatians 4:11, Philippians 2:16).
He was communicating how deeply emotionally invested he is in the work of God he did in their midst.
So if the job goes well, he rejoices, and if otherwise, he is sad. And look at Jesus in the book of Revelation (2-3) giving the churches their report card: A, B, C, or even an F grade (my words).
And you can see the fierceness in the words of Jesus, the intensity of emotion, if you will. These are eternal things we are talking about; this is the church that Jesus purchased with his blood, and there is no time to play games, if you will.
So Paul, almost like a beggar, said, If there is any encouragement in Christ. He is locked up, he is behind bars, his freedom is restricted, so he said, if there is any encouragement.
He also added, “if any comfort provided by love.” He is saying
- This is how you show you love God, by living the way he wants, as I will tell you, and that will comfort him.
- Anything else, and I will not be happy, I will not be comforted; you will be adding to my burden.
- This is the way to lighten my burden: by living the way Christ wants, which is what I want.
And then he said, If any fellowship in the Spirit. He has mentioned Christ, the risen Lord. He mentioned love, the purity of motivation, and the Spirit, the nearness of God. He is saying even though they are far apart, when they live the right way, the way he has told them and will tell them, the fellowship still continues.
Look at the way Paul said it in another place.
Do not become partners with those who do not believe, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)
Without a shared belief, a shared commitment to righteousness and the light of the truth, and a Christ-centered existence, we do not have anything in common and therefore cannot be in fellowship.
I may be in physical proximity with you and we have no fellowship, and we may be far apart and be in fellowship. That is the truth. Fellowship, in the way Paul is using it, is a shared commitment to the pursuit of truth.
Again, we may be far apart, and I feel more closeness to you than somebody that I would hit if I swung my hand playfully.
You may be in a church and not have fellowship because the truth is not being proclaimed from the pulpit, just the ideas of men, or maybe a self-aggrandizing storytelling, or entertainment, or even money-for-blessings schemes. Why? Because we do not have a shared commitment to the pursuit of truth and pleasing God.
***
Paul is not saying he would only be happy if they donate to him (they already did). As a deeply spiritual person, his eyes are on things beyond himself, things that matter to Jesus Christ, things that represent the true reason He came to die.
***
Lastly, Paul said, if there is any affection or mercy. He is loading this verse with emotional appeal. There is something for logical appeal, where you are reasoning, there may be something for fear appeal, where you use consequences as a motivation (but the jury is out on how effective that can be).
But Paul is doing none of those; he is saying if you like me, you will live the way God wants.
He is saying Look at my chains, look how difficult things are for me, and you see I need encouragement, I need you to show me mercy and affection, and love and encourage, and I want to continue to feel that we are together in fellowship (he is in isolation in prison, I presume).
Paul is begging them to live for God because of what Paul would gain from it: encouragement in Christ, comfort provided by love, fellowship in the Spirit, affection, and mercy.
That is interesting, don’t you think?
