“I ENTREAT EU-O´DIA and I entreat Syn´tyche to agree in the Lord” (Phil. 4:2). Evidently the women were good women, devoted, sacrificial, and hard-working. They “labored side by side” with Paul “in the gospel” (v. 3). When there was a third person (Paul) present to be a shock absorber they worked side-by-side—got along beautifully. When Paul was taken away, however, the side-by-side-ness left, and these women began to confront each other. Their views on many things differed. Paul called their attention to the one place where they did agree—in the Lord—they both belonged to Him and therefore fundamentally to each other. Wesley was wise when he said, “If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand.” He didn’t say, “If your head is as my head, give me your hand.” When there is heart agreement in loyalty to Christ we can put up with a lot of lesser disagreements. These lesser disagreements must be expected and provided for—and overlooked.
Paul didn’t de-Christianize these women because they disagreed. He said they were both in the Lord and that their names were “in the book of life” (v. 3). Being in the Lord does not mean mental and emotional agreement. There must be a great capacity in the Lord to absorb shocks of disagreement. This verse, “Let all men know your forbearance” (v. 5) has been translated, “Let your yieldingness be known to all men”—a willingness to yield on minor issues, uniting on the great central allegiance to Christ.
The Japanese love three trees—the pine because it stands up straight against the storms, the plum because it bravely puts out its blossoms while winter lingers still, the bamboo because it bends, but doesn’t break. Many are like the pine—they stand straight on everything, they never bend. A combination of the stiffness of the pine and the bendingness of the bamboo is the strongest combination. Some say: “Be reasonable, take my way”—they remain the lone pine.
O Christ, teach me when to stand straight and when to bend. Let me not be afraid to bend lest I be considered weak. The bending bamboo is stronger than the unbending pine. Teach me to be both, for I want to get along with others in Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My yieldedness shall be known to all men except when it comes to principle.
