Face-to-face, part 1

This morning I was reading from a letter in the New Testament called 2 John. It was written in the last half of the first century by a guy that lived during the time of Jesus. He reported in another letter (1 John) that he was an eyewitness to the life and teachings of Jesus. His hands touched Jesus, his ears knew the voice of King Jesus, his eyes beheld the second person of the Trinity, our God and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

What stood out to me was a little verse at the end of the shortest book of the New Testament. It simply says,

 "[12] Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete."

John, an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus, probably did have a lot to say to anyone that would listen. To travel with Jesus for 3+ years would definitely produce a good story or two.
John wrote a collection of those experiences in a book named after him, "John." Toward the end of the book he simply says, 

"Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." (Jn. 21:25)

So, when I read the verse from 2 John above I was taken aback. John had a great deal to say but he wasn't at all wanting to say it through paper and ink. He wanted to impart the most precious truth he knew to the precious people he loved, face-to-face. He was longing for that face-to-face encounter. He was craving true communication and fellowship and relationship. Ink and paper just wouldn't do.

The things that John saw, heard, smelled, and touched were incredible. He took communion with Jesus, had his feet washed by Jesus, and saw two dead guys come back to life. Amazing! However, the longing he had for Jesus was not going to be fulfilled until either Jesus came back, or he died and was promoted to glory to be with Jesus forever. How he sought to have this desire met is very telling: if he couldn't have Jesus himself, he would be satisfied with the Church, Jesus' visible presence in the world; the closest John would get to having his Friend back, this side of heaven, was to be in face-to-face relationship with the friends of Jesus, the Church.

Humanity craves connection. We desire to be face-to-face with other people. When we are, we are truly living out one of the purposes for existing. It's in connection that we feel alive because we come to know that we are loved, heard, and valued. Face-to-face relationship promotes true communication between persons because it involves the whole person: emotions, body language, words, facial expressions, touch, etc. 

I'm sure John experienced a sense of joy and happiness writing his letter to the faithful woman who received the letter, but it was the desire to connect face-to-face that he knew would bring about the completion of his joy. There is a certain kind of delight we experience when we meet face-to-face. And, conversely, there is a certain kind of sorrow that fills the heart and life of the one that refuses to be face-to-face with others. So, the scriptures instruct us to keep meeting together and encouraging each other (Heb. 10:25) because in doing so there lies the potential for the completion of joy.

Many think that face-to-face connection is only what extroverted people do. In reality, it's something we all do in some way. Introverted people tend to have few friends but deep commitments to them. Extroverted people tend to have many friends but are not deep with many. Regardless of our natural disposition we must make face-to-face connection a priority. It's important to listen and be heard, to correct and be corrected, to embrace and be embraced.

Here's how I know this is true: today my son, Elijah, asked if I was all done working. I told him that I was not, but that I would be home soon. Seeing that he was a little upset by that I tried to comfort him by telling him that he could call me when he wakes up from nap and we could talk. He looked at me and simply said, "I just want you to come home already." 

He desires his Daddy to be face-to-face with him. For he knows there will be hugs, running, talking, listening, wrestling, and laughing when I get home. We both want that. We're human.