First priority is to have a heart centered in Christ, with second choice having a heart of love for the people close to us while growing in Christ.

Philippians 2:19-30

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“But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.” Philippians 2:19-24

The Apostle Paul was caring for the Churches from a Roman prison and had to depend on other people to accurately convey his messages to them. Timothy was the only person Paul could trust who really had the Gospel of Christ within his heart and was like-minded with Paul in the ministry. Aside from Timothy, the others that Paul knew were using the ministry for selfish ambitions and not in service to Jesus Christ. That describes today’s culture, as the churches have abandoned the Gospel of Christ to align with the ambitions of the community agenda. Government lawmakers often pretend to believe in God, but their policies and laws no longer are integrated with the values of the Bible. The educational system no longer allows the teaching of the Gospel of Christ in the classrooms, and the community no longer welcomes the spread of the ministry of Christ.

“Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.” Philippians 2:19-30

Paul couldn’t send Timothy at that time, his first choice, so he considered it necessary to send his second choice, Epaphroditus, who was helping Paul during Paul’s time in prison. Epaphroditus was probably living much more by human nature than Timothy, focusing more on natural love in human nature than focusing on the love of Christ in the Spirit. Epaphroditus had human longings for the Ephesians, felt distressed because the Philippians heard he was sick, and he was sick almost to death. At the same time, the near death of Epaphroditus was during the work he was doing in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul sent Epaphroditus to the Ephesians hoping to spark some gladness among the Philippians and to make up for the service to Christ that the Philippians failed to display.

As followers of Jesus Christ, if we wanted to send somebody to represent the Gospel of Christ to others, we would want that person to have Christ in the center of their life and to have the natural love of human nature not central to what they do. This would make the difference between blurring the line of humanism with the love, mercy, and grace of God through Jesus. Humanism is the fig leaf worn by the entity that gives people what to think, feel, say, and do, and is defined as “…an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems…”

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1