“A new command I give: Love one another. As I have love You, so you must love one another.” John 13:34
I continue my study looking at the life of Paul using John Piper's 30 Reasons Why I Love the Apostle Paul. Today, I move to chapter twenty - Not Lonely at the Top, but Linked with Precious Friends. Here John Piper emphasizes how Paul acted Christ-like in how, even though he was a very powerful and influential leader in the church, he took the time to build and cultivate relationships with ordinary Christians throughout the churches where he spent time. Piper starts by referring us to scripture where Paul’s high position in the church is highlighted – either explicitly or implicitly. These examples, include 1 Corinthians 14:37-38, 4:1, Acts 26:16-18, and 2 Corinthians 10:8, and the combination of these examples emphasize how Paul did not use his position to avoid relationships with people of lesser position. Instead, as Jesus commands us to, Paul seeks to love everyone regardless of position or status. Piper then moves to the closing chapter of Romans where Paul, in detail seeks to greet and pass on his love (through others) to twenty-six people – which Piper notes as “remarkable.” Piper writes: “Amazing. I’ve never written a letter like this. I’ve never asked a friend to greet twenty-six people by name. Nor have I read anything like this in any biography or memoir. This personal connectedness is rare. From the most influential Christian leader in the first century—a man at the top—we see a relational connectedness that fills us with wonder. He had never even been to Rome, where all these people were living! He had met them elsewhere but followed their travels and knew their situation. Here is a man who did not let his authority, or his being at the top, choke off the affections that he felt for these friends.*” Paul is an outstanding example of how to follow Christ’s command to love others as He loves us (John 13:34).
*John Piper. 30 Reasons Why I Love the Apostle Paul
