Gladness and Reputation Philippians 2:29

The verse begins, “Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness;” Because Paul knew the church members would be excited to see their pastor once again, he gives them a presumptive charge to “Receive him therefore” which means to welcome him back “in the Lord” which is “is a title of honor expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master”, and to do so “with all gladness” or “the cause or occasion of joy”. The church in Philippi was to welcome their pastor home with respect, reverence and hearts filled with joy when he arrived.

The verse continues, “and hold such in reputation:” Paul adds this instruction - “hold such in reputation” which means “to lay hold to or cling to” the idea of being “held in honor, prized, and precious”. In other words the Philippians were to hold dear and preserve the honor and preciousness of their pastor.

If we use our imaginations we might be able to picture what it was like for the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus again. It may have been a homecoming and welcoming like he had never had before. There was joy, celebration, honor and respect for their pastor arriving, and because he was sick unto death on his mission, they received him back with a sense of gratitude and relief. What if we were to be given these instructions about our pastors? Would we honor Paul's request? Would we and do we receive our pastors “in the Lord with all gladness” or in some other manner? Do we “hold such in reputation” or do we not honor them at all? Hopefully we have a relationship with our pastors that is like unto the Philippians with Epaphroditus which makes this exercise effortless, however, if our relationship is estranged with our pastors for some reason, perhaps it is time to pray for them and ourselves to align with the plan that God put in place for the church.

Next time Paul gives the Philippians instructions for receiving Epaphroditus, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

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