The disciples at Rome were having trouble accepting each other (15:7). From what Paul says in 14:1ff, it’s clear that their challenges arose not from the kinds of things we’re used to hearing about causing church divisions (doctrinal issues, personality problems, or squabbles about preachers)—but rather over matters that flowed from their different cultures.
As with most first century churches, the church at Rome was composed of Jews and Gentiles. What had exacerbated the situation at Rome was that from AD 51-54 the church had consisted only of Gentiles as Claudius had expelled all Jewish people from Rome (Acts 18:2). Paul wrote as early as AD 55, so he was addressing a church that was in the process of reintegrating Jewish disciples into their community.
And it showed.
There were growing pains. They were at odds over “disputable matters” (NIV) or “opinions” (ESV). This included what types of food they should eat (14:2-3), whether they should observe certain days as holy v. 5-6), and probably quite a few other things. It was not a good look for the church because even though their faith was “being reported all over the world” (1:8), their differences were threatening to prevent them from continuing to work together.
In 14:19 Paul tells them, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Rather than focusing on their differences, Paul wanted them to practice the things that made for peace and the building up of each other. There is no better way to build each other up than when you are working together to accomplish a common goal. As the saying goes:
Coming together is a beginning,
Staying together is progress,
Working together is success.
With that in mind, I’d like us to think about what they (and we) need to do to effectively work together in the kingdom of God.
They needed to understand relational synergism. Relational synergism is sometimes symbolized by the equation 1 + 1 = 3. That’s a mathematical way of saying that synergism is what happens when the sum is greater than the parts. It’s the truth of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Notice the final word—“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” What is true for two is true for three and more. This is relational synergism. We can accomplish more working together than we can as isolated individuals.
But this is not always the way we approach things. Sometimes we can treat a task or responsibility like it’s our private property—we don’t want anyone trespassing on our territory! And that’s not good. Maybe it’s a class we taught for years and we’re very possessive about it. We’ve never partnered with anyone or given anyone else a chance to teach it and develop their talent. Or, perhaps we take on a role doing something and we don’t want any help, or we’ll accept help will only if they are going to do absolutely everything the exact way we want it done. The problem in both these instances is not that we want to do something (that’s great)—it’s how we want to do it—we’re thinking only of ourselves. That may get things done but it doesn’t build community.
They were missing the bigger picture. The bigger, better picture that God wants us to see is this: When there’s something that needs to be done the true goal is not just to get the job done but to build up others as we do it. And that’s the bigger picture people often fail to see Therefore, even though we could possibly do something by ourselves, it will be better if we work with others. And when we do this, all sorts of good things happen. Our relationship with others is deepened. We are encouraged. We learn there are other, sometimes better ways of doing things than what are acquainted with. This is relational synergism.
This is exactly what Paul has in mind when he tells us in Ephesians 4:16 that, “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Let’s make sure we see the bigger picture!
They were making things harder than they needed to be. When we fail to see the bigger picture, when it’s our way or the highway—we make things harder than they have to be. That’s exactly what the disciples at Rome were doing—they were making life in the kingdom harder than it needed to be.
Here are three activating principles of relational synergism that I’ve touched on but need to be specifically noted:
Communication. In Genesis 11, God confused the people’s language and the tower of Babel building project was completely shut down. Why? Simple. You can’t work together effectively without communication. Furthermore, the better you communicate the better you work together.
Communication provides the opportunity for the free flow of ideas, encouragement, and relationship building. We’ve all had those wonderful experiences where we partnered with others to do something, and we’ve walked away knowing we were the ones blessed because of the relational enrichment we received.
Collaboration. One of the purposes of communication is so we can collaborate. Since there is no person who knows everything there is to know about anything, collaboration is important. Proverbs tells us that, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (27:17). Failing to collaborate is failing to practice this principle.
One of my favorite times of the day is in the evening when Janice and I do three New York Times word puzzles together (Wordle, Connections, and Strands). We’ve both done them by ourselves and that’s okay, but the experience is much, much better when we do them together. Not only does each of us see things the other doesn’t, but together we come up with new ideas and strategies. That is what happens when people collaborate.
Compromise. Everyone should always get their say (collaborating), but no one should always get their way. The reason should be clear enough—because no one is right all the time. But usually, it’s not a matter of right or wrong—it’s good vs. better. You have a good idea but someone else has a better one. To work together effectively means we put our egos aside and seek what is best. There is absolutely no place for pride, stubbornness, and inflexibility.
Let’s work together!
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 