Epaphroditus

On Sunday, the lessons of a man buried in the pages of Philippians 2 offered some insight on the way we should live as Christians.

Epaphroditus.

He is described by the Apostle Paul as a brother, a fellow worker, a messenger, a minister, an empathizer, a comforter and an honorable man. Paul wanted to let him (and everyone else who would be reading this letter) know how he felt about Epaphroditus.

This particular message gave me a little Holy Spirit anxiety because I possess a couple of troublesome traits: 1.) I’m intensely task oriented and 2) I play my cards very close to the vest.

You probably already know this about me because 1.) I’ve flown past you in the hall without saying “hi” while carrying a binder or a “to do” list and/or  2) I’ve given you a blank stare or some other cold, stand-offish reaction after you’ve shared a deep thought with me.

To say that I don’t love these particular aspects of my temperament would be a gross understatement. In fact, they have caused me immeasurable amounts of relational trouble over the years. I have often wondered if there was some type of therapy or a procedure – like a personality transplant – that I could undergo to help me in these areas.

On Sunday, to my great delight, I discovered that help is probably much easier than I originally thought. I don’t need to change my personality (which is a huge relief, because I’m fairly certain this is impossible). I just need to adjust some behaviors.

First, I need to tell the Epaphrodituses in my life what they mean to me!

I once wrote a blog post that was kind of Paul and Epaphroditus-y. Here it is if you’d like to read it.

Check that off my to-do list. Last year, I let my Epaphrodituses know what they mean to me. So, I’m good, right?

Nope. This needs to be a regular part of my life. So help me, if I need to write “Tell your Epaphroditus what she means to you” on my to-do list in order to get it done, then I will. Has someone been a fellow laborer in the Lord’s work? I should let her know. Did someone deliver a timely message in my season of need? She needs to be encouraged in that. Have I enjoyed someone’s comfort or empathy? They need to know. I can’t just mentally stockpile these occurrences and then write about them all at once on the internet. More importantly, I can’t assume that each person just knows how I feel. I have to purposefully tell each one.

Second, I need to be an Epaphroditus – a sister, a fellow worker, a messenger, a minister, an empathizer, a comforter, an honorable woman. All of those can be accomplished by doing three things:

1. Love God
2. Love God’s people
3. Love God’s work

As I work each one of those items out in my life, it’s impossible for me to remain physically and emotionally isolated. Biblically, those three things can’t be done in a vacuum because loving God will automatically result in loving people. If I don’t love His people, then I need to seriously evaluate my love for Him. Jesus’ teachings are full of these truths. And because I love Him and I love His people, I will naturally want to serve His people and do His work.

I am greatly looking forward to modeling some Paul and Epaphroditus-like behavior today. I hope you are, too. Let’s do this together.

Written by: Jaime Hlavin

Edited by: Tamara Sturdivant