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Part 3 of 20
Romans 16:1-16
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Welcome to Northview at all our locations, and welcome to those joining us online. If you're new to Northview, know that we're not a perfect church, but we're committed to walking humbly and honoring God as best we can. We also want to be honest: we're not for everybody. If Northview isn't the right fit for you, we genuinely encourage you to find another wonderful church in our community where you can grow in your faith.
Today we're reaching the end of a 38-week study on the book of Romans. This is week 36, and we're launching into Romans chapter 16. If you're new, know that we've been studying a letter written by the Apostle Paul, a man who initially opposed Christianity but had a radical encounter with Christ that completely transformed his life. That's a powerful reminder: there's no one outside the redemptive reach of God—not in your family, your workplace, your school, or your neighborhood. God works by invitation, not invasion, and when you invite Him into your life, you discover that Jesus truly changes everything.
Now, today's passage is admittedly a "doozy." We're going to read a portion of Scripture that contains 28 names—the kind of passage where you might be tempted to glaze over and wonder if there's anything of real substance here. But here's what I want you to understand: we've committed throughout this entire study to thoroughly read every verse and passage, taking the conversations as they come. We're not cherrypicking ideas based on our preferences. We're anchoring ourselves in the text, and that commitment is forcing us to have conversations that are truly productive and helpful for every church to have.
What's fascinating about how Paul ends this letter is that he doesn't give us footnotes—he gives us credits. That's an amazing thing Paul does.
Paul belongs on the Mount Rushmore of human history. He was a legendary figure with one of the most tremendous influential impacts throughout human history—recognized not just by people of faith, but by secular historians as well.
But what Paul does is remarkably different from anything else you see in his era. He's writing during the time of the Roman Empire, saturated with Stoics and philosophers—Marcus Aurelius, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato. These were among the brightest thinkers in human history, and there was great pride in how individuals owned their ideas, their theories, their legacies.
But here's what Paul does differently: he gets to the end of his letter and makes something very clear—this is not a solo mission. This was a group effort. That's something every church should keep in mind, because the tendency within the community of believers is to turn church into a spectator sport.
From the very beginning, Christianity is a preaching movement. Jesus went through Judea and Galilee proclaiming repentance. Proclamation of God's Word, instruction of Scripture, interpretation and application to context—these have always been key components of how we function as a body of believers.
But here's the danger: we can turn this into entertainment. If you're not careful, you'll start to assume that church is simply you showing up once a week to a gathering for your entertainment. But no—church is not a weekly service. Church is a shared life.
When we place our faith in Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior, we enter into a shared life and shared mission. We collectively have a shared redemptive vision. We share a source of truth. We anchor ourselves to Christ, who is the author and perfecter of our faith and the pinnacle of human potential. We live collectively together, sharpening one another, doing our best to go out into the world and live as a reflection of Christ.
This is not for your entertainment. This is for your engagement.
What I love about how Paul ends is that he doesn't tie a cute bow on it and revel in the credit—he shares it. This makes me think of movie credits. Most people leave before the credits roll, but for Marvel movies, you almost have to stay because there's a mini clip at the very end.
I remember in college when one of our friends got to be an extra in Lord of the Rings. He was part of the army in one of the battle scenes. We watched the clip probably 17 million times and couldn't see him once—it was like Where's Waldo? But when the movie came out, we stayed through the credits specifically to see his name mentioned. And I'll tell you, even though his name meant nothing to most people there, for those of us who knew him, it was a unique and cool experience.
I have to admit—I was once in the credits of a TV show. That's my one claim to fame. It was on Elimidate, that raunchy dating show from the early days of reality TV. I was working the squirt gun game at Six Flags Great America in Chicago when a network crew came to film an episode. They told me, "You're just the help. Set the game up and get out of the way." But the participant kept interacting with me, so they put a microphone on me, and I actually got to make the final decision about which date he'd choose. My mom kept that on VHS like a proud parent.
But here's the thing: there's something about seeing your name in the credits. This letter—Paul's masterpiece, his magnum opus—arrives in this community, and individuals hear their names mentioned by one of the greatest thinkers in history, the author of the most influential letter ever penned. That's amazing.
What this tells us is profound: faithfulness is really never anonymous. You can go through life feeling overlooked and unappreciated. But when you live a life of faithfulness to the Lord, it always gains the attention of your heavenly Father. You never come off His radar. He is intimately aware and fully attentive to the life you're living, the way you're honoring Him through different sectors of society and the world.
I pray that one of your experiences would be a genuine fulfillment and a supernatural pleasure—where you recognize that the Creator of all things is smiling down upon you, that your faithfulness is not anonymous. Your name may not appear in a letter read throughout history, but your name is mentioned in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Paul is so quick to make it very clear: folks, this is a group effort. He doesn't get to the end and say, "Look at what I've done." He gets to the end and says, "You should know what other people have been doing this entire time." That's something we always have to keep in the forefront of our minds as Christians and followers of Christ.
Gathering and proclaiming Scripture will always be a key component of what we do as a body of believers. But these small platforms we stand on can often add an unnecessary varnish to an individual. And anyone who's met me in the lobby knows I'm just pretty underwhelming—I'm one other individual. This is not a one-man show. That would be a gross reduction of what God had in mind when He implemented the local church.
What I love is that Paul lists off all these names and gives us details about some of them. You could honestly spend multiple weeks on just this one text. There are several amazing stories here.
Priscilla and Aquila were early church leaders who took a young gifted man named Apollos under their wing, recognizing God's calling on his life and his character. They poured into him and developed him. He went on to have such a fruitful ministry that some Christians later debated who was better—Paul or Apollos. Some said, "I belong to Apollos," and others said, "I belong to Paul." But Paul wrote back saying that's nonsense. There's no competition. We're all on the same team. Sometimes church folks like to pit leaders against one another, but that's a miss. We're all on the same team.
Rufus has an awesome story. Most scholars believe this is the same Rufus mentioned in Mark's Gospel as the son of Simon the Cyrene. Who's that? Simon is the man standing in the streets of Jerusalem when Jesus passes by, bloodied and tortured, carrying His own cross. Jesus stumbles, and they force Simon to pick up Jesus's cross and carry it. Imagine the weight—carrying the very cross that would execute the Son of God. Most believe Rufus grew up in that household, raised by the man who carried Jesus's cross. Paul says of this man, "This guy is awesome," and he gives a shout-out to Rufus's mother, who had also been like a mother to him.
Andronicus and Junia were people who had been in prison with Paul. He says they're "outstanding among the apostles and they were in Christ before I was." I think Paul understands something important: if you lose sight of or take for granted the people who came before you, you will foolishly mismanage the opportunity to set up those who come after you. You and I are just a lynchpin in a remarkable story. Paul recognizes that he wasn't the first one here—other people paved the way.
Paul understood something crucial: if you lose sight of or take for granted the people who came before you, you will foolishly mismanage the opportunity to set up those who come after you. You and I are just a lynchpin in a remarkable story. Paul wasn't the first one here—other people paved the way.
Phoebe was one of the early benefactors and strategic partners in Paul's ministry. She was a faithful servant, radical in her generosity, and absolutely courageous and sold out for the cause of Christ. When Paul wrote his masterpiece—the letter to the Romans—he entrusted Phoebe, a deacon in the church in Cenchrea, to deliver it.
This woman undertook an 800-mile journey through severe challenges and extreme danger. She would have traveled by ship, by steer, and by sandals, trudging through regions to deliver this letter. The letter you and I hold onto for centuries has been shaping the gospel and providing a firm foundation for generations and cultures all around the world.
Phoebe's story raises an important and genuine tension about women in leadership within the local church. There are two camps of thought: egalitarian and complimentarian.
The egalitarian view believes that men and women are of equal value and should have equal opportunities at a minimum. The complimentarian view holds that men and women have equal value but complementary roles.
As believers, it is critical to remember that the goal is for us to be the example, not the extremist. Think level-headed and responsibly, and make sure efforts are done in humility and mindful of those around us.
Here's the reality: there will be egalitarians in the church of heaven, and there will be complimentarians in the church in heaven. One of the wisest things we can do is reverse engineer our future into our present and learn how to be in community with people who don't always think exactly the way we think.
I identify as what would be known as a soft complimentarian. I believe there is extensive room and opportunity for women to serve in critical roles and leadership within the local church and the gospel mission. However, I do believe that scripture is pretty clear when it comes to a spiritual covering and the role of elders and those leading a congregation—roles designated to male leadership.
We must be careful about painting with broad strokes regarding toxic masculinity. When we demonize what it means to be a man, we suddenly have a generation of boys reluctant to grow up, reluctant to be brave, adventurous, protective, and willing to shoulder responsibility. This doesn't dismiss, discredit, or devalue women—if anything, it should be clothed in a heart of honor.
On the other hand, for those who swell up in pride and get upset about women serving in any capacity within the church: you are simply choosing to look the other way when it comes to the Bible. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, you will discover absolute heroes of the faith who served in prominent and influential roles.
Don't forget that women stood at the foot of the cross while Jesus was executed. When Christ came back to life, it was Mary Magdalene, a woman with a reckless past, who was the first individual in human history to carry the message: "He is risen." And here, Paul entrusts his greatest letter and greatest work to a woman who was a deacon in the church of Cenchrea.
Some who lean toward one position become so extreme that they try to reduce or redefine what Paul meant by using the word "deacon." Throughout scripture, you find the use of different offices, and this woman was serving in a leadership role within the church of Cenchrea.
At Northview, we have roles like senior pastor and elders designated to male leadership, and a governing board of trustees that functions much like deacons, managing the financial affairs of our church. We have been extremely blessed with very wise and godly women who have served on our trustee board. If you come to a passage like this and all you do is swell up in irritation rather than appreciation for this woman who got the job done, that says more about you than what scripture is saying.
Eugene Peterson wrote, "Doctrine is not complete until it dances in community." The goal of theology is not knowledge or winning the next trivia contest. The goal of theology is worship, mission, and living anchored to the kingdom of God, living within its values and accomplishing its purposes.
This life that Christ died to give us can only be discovered in Christ, but it has to be lived out in community. What makes this thing so enjoyable? What adds so much stature and substance to our life? The fact that we don't have to do this alone. We get to link arms, be shoulder to shoulder and in step with one another as we explore faith together.
Paul's favorite statement across all his epistles is "in Christ." Ultimately, anyone who is in Christ is saved, sealed, secured, and adopted into the family of God. If God is now your heavenly Father, what does that make of everyone else who is also in Christ? It makes them siblings. They are your spiritual brothers and sisters.
The language Paul uses is packed with love and affection and admiration for one another. He uses terms like brothers, sisters, and even mothers over and over again. It's not until you start to realize and embrace your faith community as a spiritual family that you can begin to discover and experience exactly what God had in mind when he established the church.
This list is wildly diverse: Jews and Romans and Greeks, slaves and aristocrats, merchants and people from all different walks of life—all sharing one thing in common: they are in Christ. The beauty of the gospel is that it can take people from all different experiences, journeys, walks of life, and traditions, and merge them in a reconciling way into a beautiful mosaic that brings all of us together as children of God and as siblings in the faith.
When it comes to the family of God and community of faith, consider these principles:
The gospel travels through people, not through programs. It takes place in the gathering of community.
The gospel elevates relationships over rank. This is not hierarchal. It comes with a lot of mutual submission. The gospel is a race to the back of the line—saying you first and placing the needs of others before your own.
The gospel honors the hidden and the faithful. We're mindful and express gratitude, understanding that we stand in faith because giants and legends and pillars and heroes came before us and stewarded well their moment. You and I get the opportunity to steward well our moment. Whether we receive credit, attention, or applause does not matter. Our faithfulness is not anonymous in the sight of our God.
The gospel builds family out of strangers.
You can almost always tell the difference between someone who says they're a Christian but approaches this as a religious exercise and someone rooted in community. The average Christian in America attends church one and a half times a month—it's hard to generate spiritual momentum with sporadic attendance.
If all you do is bi-weekly show up to a gathering that you're assuming is for your entertainment, you are choosing to dwarf your development. You are choosing to lay on the table and forfeit so much of what God has in store for your life. But the person rooted in community has a different stature, different substance. Their joy, participation, and love for those around them is noticeably different.
Don't miss out on experiencing the life Jesus died to give you because you refuse to participate in biblical community.
Understand that status, gender, ethnicity—all of it bows to grace. At the name of Jesus, every tribe and every tongue and even every tax bracket will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Consider this: How often am I treating and viewing the people I attend church with as spiritual family? Does that show in the way I engage, or am I still showing up looking to be entertained?
