I read some time ago that one of the directors of the Rockefeller Foundation said that the members of that organization are either patrons or they are partners. A patron is a person who lends his name and his support to an organization. He occasionally will attend one of the annual meetings. There is some kind of slight attachment to that organization. A patron intends to help it by their name and by a contribution, but there is no real vital involvement if you are a patron.
But if you are a partner in something, that means that you are vitally associated with another person in a common interest. People who are married are called partners—married partners. They are vitally associated in a common interest. Two people who dance are called partners; they are vitally involved in a common interest. Two tennis players are called partners, and they are vitally involved in an area of common interest. People who are involved in business are called partners; they are vitally involved and associated in an area of common interest. It is interesting to know that the Bible speaks of us as partners with God in his work.