As God continues to bless us as a community, one of the things we will notice is that the blessings of God are as uneven here as they are anywhere else. We want to live out the ramifications of koinonia fellowship, so that the one who has little does not have too little. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to keep ourselves free from unctuous flattery, and free from envy as well.
If God blesses members in our midst, this is a foundational exhortation for you. Don’t get weird. Be normal. Getting all whizzed up about how well they are doing, and being worried about how they are going to handle their good fortune spiritually, is a very good way of getting weird. They might not handle their good fortune perfectly, but you most certainly are not handling it well. Our instructions in this are plain—rejoice with those who rejoice.
Envy is a deadly thing. The author of Proverbs asks “who can stand against it?” If someone comes into a real blessing, and it is a blessing that by rights you think should have been coming to you, remember the tenth commandment. The ethics of the tenth commandment are not affected by the size of your neighbor’s house, the redness of his car, or the acreage of his private driving range. Don’t get weird.
The other kind of weirdness to avoid is that of the long-lost buddy. Friendship does not recede or approach based on the good fortunes of the friend in question. Keep it simple, and don’t get weird friendly or weird distant. Again, God’s way is best—simply rejoice with those who rejoice.
When we obey the character of God in this, His Spirit is working to bless the entire body. And that is what we should be longing for.