Do We Care Enough to Send the Very Best?

Philippians 2:19 - 3:3a

The old ad slogan from Hallmark Greeting Cards jumped into my mind while I was reading today's passage. "When you care enough to send the very best." It seems a bit cheesy to apply it here, but given how often the words "care" and "send" appear in this section of scripture, it just seemed to fit.

Paul himself planted this church at Philippi, and this letter is overflowing with his love for this young church and its people. In the same manner, the Philippians seem to have a deep love for Paul, assisting him in some manner, and sending Epaphroditus to him, as Paul says to "do for me what you couldn't do from far away." And Paul is anxious to send both Timothy and Epaphroditus back to the Philippians -- and to hopefully travel there himself.

This passage gives us an excellent picture of a relationship between a church and those it sends into the mission field.

I must confess with some shame that my mind is not often on those Bethesda sends into the mission field. It is far too easy to let my mind focus on the here and now. There are bills to pay, jobs to do, children to tend to . . . all sorts of things that seem so present and pressing, it's easy to forget that half a world away there are families who we know personally -- who we count as friends -- who appreciate our support.

We always keep the latest letter from the Venbergs on our refrigerator. This is a great reminder. In fact, I should probably make a habit to pray for them every time I open the refrigerator door.

And last week my wife said "I think it's time to send a package to Dan and Rachel." And I thought this was a great idea. But so many good intentions are done in by the tyranny of the present and its urgent needs.

Paul, Epaphroditus, Timothy, the Philippians . . . here were people who cared deeply about each other, sending letters -- and themselves -- across great distances to lend support.

In this age of modern communication, how much easier it is to "send the very best." How is it that we routinely do so much less?

-- Drew Clausen