Letters and Fingerprints
| Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2Corinthians3:1-3) |
But Paul has a surprising take on the idea of letters of recommendation - he says "who needs a letter when you have fingerprints? In other words, you(the church community) are our letter." If you want to see what someone is like, look at the fingerprints they have left on the lives of others.
Paul argues that his 18 month stay with the Corinthians left a church community that reflected the integrity of Paul's character. His argument is valid. If he had been a fake, 18 months would have revealed it and any church would have died a death by dearth of integrity. But there was a church and although it had some issues, it was a significant church under tough circumstances.
The significant point is that the community has become a message - a letter from Christ. Their identity as a faith community was a message from Jesus to the world and this is further reinforced by the idea that this letter is written on hearts by the Spirit and not with ink or on tablets of stone.
The Corinthians were not a perfect church (And, by the way, if you find a perfect church - don't join it - you'll spoil it!) But in spite of the problems they had, they were still a redeemed, Christ-filled community and their lives were making a difference.
What are the fingerprints you are leaving on the lives of others? Are they the fingerprints of Christ? Let's take a moment to pray that God would move in us by His Spirit so that the lives of those we touch may reflect the beauty of Christ.
