For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ, (Col. 2:5).
When we are absent, the work must go on. And when we stop and think about it, we would not have it any other way. We would not want things to suffer or come to a standstill when we leave, because that would be a poor reflection on our work when we were present.
Perhaps you have had the humbling experience of leaving some job or position, fearful that things would fall apart when you were gone, only to find out that they got along quite well without you! How did that make you feel? Well, actually, that may be a compliment. It may actually show that you did your job well, including the preparation of others to step up to the plate after you.
What do we want people to say about us after we are gone? Of course we want them to miss us. But do we not want them to continue on, to grow and prosper? Do we not want them, in recollecting us, to be strengthened and encouraged in their own journey?
I have known of congregations which really struggled when they lost a preacher. Sometimes it turned out that some of the members were following the preacher more than they were following Christ. And when that preacher was gone, they just could not bring themselves to attend the assemblies anymore, because things were different. In one case, the preacher died of a sudden heart attack, and some of the members were devastated. Not a few of them stopped attending completely. Their “allegiance” to that preacher was so great that they could not support the cause after he was gone. I often wondered how they would justify that to God, or how they would feel if that preacher could come back and tell them how disappointed he was that they were unfaithful.
In my preaching and teaching, I try to regularly remind folks that I do not want them following after me, except to the extent that I am following Christ. Paul said, “Be ye imitators of me even as I also am of Christ,” (1 Cor. 11:1). In exposing the danger of following after men, Paul explained to the Corinthians that it really made no difference who had taught or baptized them, their allegiance needed to be solely to Jesus Christ, (see 1 Cor. 1:10-17). And when Paul was absent from congregations with whom he had labored, he was still with them “in spirit.” He longed and rejoiced to hear about them, and to “behold” from afar their “order” and the “steadfastness of their faith in Christ,” (Col. 2:5).
I have visited people who have recently lost a loved one, maybe a precious child or spouse. I wonder sometimes how they can go on. How can they face a new day without the love of their life? Were it not for the tender mercies of God, such losses would be more than we can bear. But, somehow we must remember that in their absence they would not want us to give up all hope and fall away. They would want us to be faithful, and continue onward. This is true whether they are saved or lost. If they are saved, they certainly would not want us to depart from the faith and be separated from them eternally. And if they are lost, they would definitely not want us to follow them to that place of torments.
When I must be absent from my brethren, it thrills my heart to hear that they are remaining faithful, steadfastly living the Christian life. The same is true for my physical family and friends. It would hurt me deeply to hear that they had stopped attending, or departed from the faith, after I was no longer there in body.
There is coming a time when all of us will be absent. Nevertheless, “we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord,” (2 Cor. 5:8). We’re going to need to move on, trusting and praying that the work we have done will endure. Our work will be tested and tried after we leave, and it will be “made manifest,” (1 Cor. 3:13-15). But oh how our reward will be sweetened if that work continues and flourishes!
It is sometimes said that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” While not always true, I hope that each of us will live our lives in a way that will make a positive impact upon others, even after we are gone. I still have many great memories of friends and loved ones long gone. Reflecting upon them makes me a better person. Even though I miss them, they are still with me in a sense, encouraging me, strengthening me. My prayer is that when I am gone, you will be a better, stronger person for having known me — and that you will prosper onward and upward.
-by Robert C. Veil, Jr.
In My Absence