Most of us were handed a picture of the Christian life that is mostly individual. And when that picture gets into ministry, it produces leaders who are permanently at the front and never actually in the room.

Romans 12:10 describes something different. Two things, tenderness and honor, and both of them require you to be close enough to people to actually know what they are carrying.

In this episode we look at what philostorgos actually means. It is a compound word combining friendship love and family affection. The kind of warmth that exists between people who belong to each other without having chosen each other. Paul applies that word to the church. Not a network. Not a community of like-minded people who found each other. A family.

Then Paul says something that flips the whole instinct of ministry culture. In honor, prefer one another. Outdo each other in showing honor. You are not competing to be recognized. You are competing to recognize. You are looking for ways to go first in giving dignity to the person next to you.

That is not weakness. That is the mark of someone who has actually been formed by grace.

This one is for anyone who leads, teaches, or serves in a visible role and has ever felt the distance that the role can quietly create between you and the people you are supposed to be serving.

Formation to Transformation is a worship devotional for people who want worship to be more than a song set. New episodes every week through Romans 12.

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