Personal interaction is such a necessity for the body of Christ. Notice the need in Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians, “[And we] continue to pray especially and with most intense earnestness night and day that we may see you face to face and mend and make good whatever may be imperfect and lacking in your faith” (1 Thessalonians 3:10 AMPC).
The “face-to-face” sharing times can undoubtedly fill voids in our faith as we listen to one another’s experiences and each one’s practical biblical understanding. The Greek word translated imperfect (katartízō) means “to put a thing in its appropriate condition, to establish, set up, equip, arrange, prepare, mend.”[1] It is the same word translated as restore in Galatians 6:1. Clearly, not every sit down is to work through a Galatians 6 failure, but it can thwart a future one that is unknown to anyone in the conversation…but the Lord.
Likewise, lacking (hustérēma) means “to fall behind; that which is wanting.”[2] I don’t see that as much as a reproof for someone not being where they should be in their Christian walk; instead, it is a conversation that fills a wanting—a desire to know more—in the hearer.
The crucial factor in any conversation is the previous prayer. Whether it is a scheduled time together where targeted prayer is an easy focus or a blanket prayer for the conversations that could happen that day, prayer is the commonality that prepares the participants to glean all they can from their time together.
As we enter this holiday season, where face-to-face conversations are so prominent (even on Facetime 😊), join me as we pray daily for those conversations to be everything the Lord would desire them to be.
[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, E-Sword (Chattanooga, TN: AMG International, Inc., 1992).
[2] IBID
Photo: Licensed under the Unsplash+ License