Welcome One Another

Relating with others is at the very center of most all of our lives.  Although we all desire and want to relate with others, we also know that relating with others can be very difficult.  I observe two very distinct ways that we can relate with others . . . 1) Selfish Relating is relating with others because of how we benefit from the relationship.  We enjoy relating with others because they make us feel good, loved, wanted, and valuable.  Another alternative that very few people experience is . . . 2) Shared Relating is relating with others because of the mutual benefits that you and the other person experience as a result of the relationship.  In Romans 12:5 Paul describes this ideal type of shared relating with others by saying, “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (cf Eph. 4:25).”  God’s ideal relationship is between brothers and sisters in Christ who share mutual love, acceptance, and belonging together.

God has provided a number of relational characteristics in His Word that will help us experience this type of shared relationship with others.  Let’s look at the very first characteristic of a godly relationship with others . . .

READ:  Romans 15:1-7

In verse 7 Paul gives us Godly Relational Characteristic # 1: WELCOME One Another!  The word welcome means to, “accept or receive someone into your life with friendliness.”  The beginning of godly relationships with others is a willingness to accept anyone and everyone into your life!  How do we do this?  Paul tells us, he goes on to say, “as Christ has welcomed you”.  As Christ has accepted us into relationship with Himself, we are to accept others into relationship with us.  So, an important question to answer is How has Christ welcomed us into relationship with Him?  Our text hints at a few ways Jesus welcomed us . . .

Jesus Christ welcomed us by PLEASING us (Rom. 15:2-3) –Jesus Christ’s entire life was lived not for the purpose of pleasing Himself, but rather for the purpose of pleasing others.  Jesus always spoke and did things unselfishly that would give pleasure to others (Phil. 2:3-8).  We must approach all relationships with a desire to speak and do things, “for (their) good” and to, “build (them) up”.  Pleasing others almost always involves personal sacrifice because it requires us to unselfishly give up what we want with the personal pleasure of others in mind.

Jesus Christ welcomed us by bearing our REPROACH (Rom. 15:3-4) – Jesus Christ was the object of reproach (insult/ridicule) throughout His life.  In even the most intense moments of criticism, Jesus committed no sin and did not return insult for insult, but instead entrusted Himself to God (1 Peter 2:21-24).  We all reproach Christ with our sin, and yet Jesus Christ did not give us what we deserve but instead mercifully, “died for us” (Rom. 3:23).  There will be relationships in our lives that we must allow the reproach of others to “fall on us” without a word or act of vengeance or retaliation.  The temptation in these moments will be to reject them and shut them out of our lives.  Christ was willing to bear the reproach of our sin, therefore we must be ready to bear the reproach of others’ sin toward us!

Jesus Christ welcomed us by living in HARMONY with us (Rom. 15:5) – Jesus Christ lived in harmony with others and He established harmony between others.  Where there was once hostility and animosity between Gentiles and Jews, Jesus Christ brought peace, harmony, and unity through the cross (Eph. 2:11-16).  Oneness and unity with others (no matter how big of a social, financial, religious, or racial difference) is the result of our individual oneness and unity with Jesus Christ.  Such harmony with Christ and others will result in us together and in one voice, “glorifying God”.

 CONCLUSION

At the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Romans 16:16 he commands the believers to express their acceptance of one another in a tangible way by, “greet(ing) one another with a holy kiss”!  Whether it is a kiss on the cheek, a handshake, or a hug, there is something special about a tangible expression of acceptance in a shared relationship.  Jesus’ tangible expression of welcoming us into relationship with Him was His death on the cross for our sins.  Have you accepted Jesus’ welcoming you into relationship with Him?  Once we’ve experienced the welcoming love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, you’ll know exactly what it means to welcome others into your life!