AUGUST 2, 2005

PERSONAL TRUST CONNECTIONS IN PAUL’S LETTERS
Pastor George Van Alstine

In our Sunday morning preaching, Pastor Connie DeVaughn and I will turn from one of Paul’s Prison Epistles to another; from Ephesians to Colossians.

These two cities in Asia Minor, Ephesus and Colosse, were only about 120 miles apart. Several churches in the Lycus River Valley passed around the letters they received from Paul and other leaders in early Christianity. Laodicea and Hierapolis are specifically mentioned in Colossians 4:13-15 for sharing that letter.

It seems clear that the letters to Colosse and Ephesus, together with the little personal letter known as Philemon, were sent by Paul through an associate named Tychicus at the same time. (Read Ephesians 6:21-22, Colossians 4:7-9, Philemon 10-12). In all three letters Paul refers to himself as a prisoner and speaks of his chains (Ephesians 3:1, 4:1, 6:20; Colossians 4:3, 10, 18; Philemon 1,23). This is why they are often grouped together as Paul’s Prison Epistles.

As we read these letters, the first century world in the Roman Empire becomes very real to us. We recognize the awesome challenges faced by the early believers, and we have to wonder how the church survived during the first two centuries.

The answer is, of course, that God’s Holy Spirit created a fire that could not be put out. The movement was severely challenged by three great forces:
* Persecution of all sorts, including torture and death
* False Teachings that rose up in local churches and threatened Gospel Truth
* Falling away by many believers who could not stand the heat.

We see all these negative pressures in the letters we are studying. And to make matters worse, Paul was locked up in prison and unable to be there for the Ephesian and Colossian Christians.

What becomes clear as we read is that order and sound teaching were dependent on one factor—personal trust connections. Paul did not threaten with God’s judgment to keep people in line. Nor did he pull apostolic rank and say, “Because I said so.” He put his word and his reputation out there and believed that the Holy Spirit would establish in the minds and hearts of far-away believers that he was God’s true messenger to them.

These personal trust connections went beyond Paul. The same quality was the key to the success of messengers like Tychicus and Epaphras, and of young preachers like Timothy and Titus. It was to personal trust connections that Paul appealed in trying to bring about reconciliation between Philemon and his runaway slave Onesimus.

This strength of the early church is rarely seen in the modern church in America. Individual churches are highly competitive, and their leaders are often driven by ambition. Instead of the personal trust connections that were the bedrock of the early church, the modern church uses more sophisticated tools, such as marketing research and seeker-centered strategies. Paul’s long-hand letters, by which the churches in different localities were held together in trust, have been superceded by the nearly-infinite communication possibilities of the Internet.

Imagine what Paul could have done if he had a lap-top computer in his jail cell and could instantly e-mail every Christian church in the world! Did God make a mistake by bringing his church into the world at a time when they were so dependent on personal trust connections?