Reciprocity is about matching each other. . . . It’s why the mutual aspect of relationships is so vital. It’s also why humility is a central component of establishing and keeping one-another relationships. Humility prompts us to give that love, and humility compels us to respond to that love.”- Joel Muddamalle
“Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.”- 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 (NIV)
Joel Muddamalle concludes Chapter 13 of The Hidden Peace with comments on 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12. An ethnically and socially diverse culture, Thessalonicans typically formed groups dictated by their ethnic background or economic status. Hence, it cost Christians in this church to profess saving faith in Jesus. On a personal as well as public level.
Most significantly, the Christians there united in the work of Jesus. Because, Joel stresses, Jesus turned enemies who warred against each other into members of one family. Members willing to die for each other! As a result, this new dynamic came with a responsibility: to love one another as brothers and sisters.
Furthermore, in the above text, Paul used the Greek word for a familial type of love. A word used in the Greek world primarily to describe blood relationships among family members.
Also, Joel observes, the phrase one another comes from a Greek reciprocal pronoun (allelous). One of Paul’s favorite phrases, it denotes the relationship believers need to cultivate with each other. Thus, it suggests two dimensions of communal identity that shape the Christian life:
- it suggests the need for believers to care for one another without regard for social, economic, or ethnic position.
- the term indicates that all members within the group possess equal status. Hence, no place exists for hierarchy in the family of God. Because, Joel underscores, “We all sit equally in the likeness and image of God under the authority and kingship of Jesus. This is the posture of humility.”
Today’s question: What helps you attain and maintain the goal of keeping one-another relationships? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “”A sibling to humility – boundaries”