“Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss. All of God’s people here send you their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 NLT
We continue today with a second look at Paul’s final thoughts in this, his second letter to the Corinthian church. He asked the believers to “encourage each other” and “live in harmony and peace”. Was this an impossible ask, or was it achievable amongst the disparate believers in Corinth? From a natural perspective, any group of people will eventually fall apart because it is not long before there is a falling-out, and the group members will go their separate ways. Selfish desires, differences in intellect and perspectives, different agendas, and so on soon reveal themselves with fault lines that grow until the gaps are unbridgeable. However, some groups with a clear set of rules and a common goal will survive, as with a golf club or another hobby-based vision. Or, better still, a group focused on Jesus.
Among Christians, there is a clear bond that draws each person ever closer to one another and to Christ. I always envision a triangle, with God at the apex and believers at the other two points. As they look up to God and get closer to Him, they inevitably get closer to each other. If they neglect their relationship with God, they will move further apart. It is also a good analogy to use in marriage counselling. Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians to “live in harmony and peace” implied a common bond, as they “grew in maturity,” meaning they were becoming more and more like Jesus every day.
In Romans 12, Paul used the analogy of our physical bodies as the body of Christ. Romans 12:4-5, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other”. Paul revisits the analogy in 1 Corinthians 12:12, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ”. But in the next verse, he emphasises that no matter our differences, we are all still part of the body of Christ. “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptised into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit”. And further down the page, we read, “In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honourable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honourable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honour and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad” (1 Corinthians 12:22-26). In these verses, one word emerges, and that is “honour”. We should honour one another as a priority in our relationships, because that is how we live together as a body of believers.
It is therefore obvious that a properly functioning body of believers will only live in harmony with each other if they care for each other in the same way as we care for our own bodies. So if we cut ourselves, we clean the wound and put on a plaster. But what we don’t do is ignore the hurt, as otherwise the wound may become infected and lead to a more serious condition. In the same way, in the body of Christ, if a member is hurting, we tend to the hurt so that it doesn’t worsen and lead to an infection that could ultimately destroy the body.
To “live in harmony and peace” requires effort and diligence on the part of the church members. Otherwise, the believers become separated from each other, and the church ceases to function as God desires. This can be seen in some declining churches, where members meet only on Sunday morning for an hour or so, and leave their fellowship there. Then, when a crisis erupts, there is no cohesion, and the opposite of “harmony and peace” appears. To be a fellowship of believers in the way Paul was encouraging the Corinthians requires diligence and effort. They would have had to work hard to bind with one another and live out his instructions, particularly, as his letters have shown, there was much going on with the potential to tear them apart.
Are we pilgrims a part of a fellowship, living in “harmony and peace” with each other? If not, we must ask ourselves the question “Why not”? Our relationships with one another start with our relationship with God and cross cultural and racial boundaries. To be harmonious starts with Jesus. Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others”. But here’s the thing. The next verse nails it, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus“. Any group of believers that lacks harmony and cohesiveness will find that personal and corporate peace is elusive. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). The peace of Christ didn’t die out with the Apostles. It is still there for us, from the fount that never runs dry.
So are we pilgrims experiencing a lack of peace today? As we look up to Jesus and gain His perspective, we will soon find the way back onto the right track.
Dear Heavenly Father. As with joy, You are the Source of peace. Thank You for the peace we can experience as we live in harmony with each other. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 