Communal Christians

Introduction

-We live in an age of unprecedented connection. More ways to reach each other than ever before — texts, feeds, notifications, likes. And yet, somehow, we have never felt more alone.

This isn't an accident. Our culture has quietly been building walls while calling them windows. We've designed our cities around cars instead of people — neighborhoods where you can live for years without knowing your neighbor's name. We've replaced the town square with the scroll, the front porch with the home theater, the dinner table with the delivery app eaten alone on the couch.

We've made isolation convenient. And convenience, it turns out, is one of the most effective ways to drift apart.

-We are missing a crucial part of day to day life: community. People who participate together and are there for each other. A confidence that when something goes wrong, they have your back. The church is meant to be that community. Christianity is a team sport, it’s adoption into a new family, it’s becoming a member of a functioning body where we all work together to thrive. Yes, we can learn about God on our own through podcasts and Bible apps but we are missing a crucial element when we are isolated in our faith.

The apostle Paul provides us with a picture of church life that helps us learn how to become a community in a culture that is isolated. (1 Corinthians 11)

I. Design of Authority (1 Corinthians 11:1-3)

A. “be imitators of me just as I am also of Christ.” (v. 1) Here’s what we find in life: we seldom can get very far alone. When we think about living for Jesus and growing in our faith then we are overwhelmed by the daunting task. It helps to follow someone

1. Paul’s statement here is connecting the previous text where he was finishing his discourse on Liberty: things sacrificed to Idols, how to handle that in the church, etc. He finishes in 10:30-33 saying that whatever You eat or drink do it all for the glory of God do not offend Jews or Greeks and do what is profitable so that all may be saved. Christians are supposed to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, this is a general principle throughout the New Testament. It can be hard to differentiate between what is a rock solid truth/commandment that must be obeyed and an opinion matter that should be treated as a freedom in Christ. Paul’s advice? Follow a mature Christian’s example to learn how to glorify God in all things

Where would we be if someone didn’t take the time to show us?

B. v. 2: Paul praises them because they are doing what he asked them: follow my example. They remember what he has taught them, they hold firmly to and follow what he delivered to them. These Traditions or gifts that Paul preached impacted the lives of believers just as his life impacted them

Does that mean we just do what everyone else does? No, we don’t just follow smart people blindly. We don’t just take a campaigning politician’s word as law without checking it out, they might just be trying to get on your good side no matter the cost. We don’t go to the gym to get in shape and hire the coach that’s 300 lbs overweight. We shouldn’t even listen to our preachers as the infallible source, we need to be checked against Scripture, for I am capable of making mistakes. Does that mean we need to hoof it alone? Far from it. Rather, we look to God’s design as a funnel to live life (v. 3)

Verse 3 deals with the matter of headship: Christ is the head of every man, man is the head of woman, and God the Father is the head of Christ. Naturally this is not referring to a physical, actual head, rather, it is symbolic of authority. God made everything with a specific design, and we function best when we adhere to God's design.

The Father and Christ are examples of how man and woman are meant to be within the church. God the Son and God the Father are equal in Nature, yet, the Son chose to submit to the Father (obeying Him, following His lead for the benefit of all). Likewise, man and woman are created equal: both made in God’s image. The man was created to lead, having dominion over the earth, and loving his family. The woman was created as a helpmeet, a shareholder in the work, enabling the man to lead and do what God made Him to do. They are a team that works together for the greater good.

The world may not adhere to God's design but the church is meant to be different. We are to be examples of who God is by living and thriving the way He intended, as a community with God at the helm.

II. Designed of Community (v. 4-16)

Read v. 4-15

To help us understand the relationship of man, woman, and God; Paul uses 3 examples: Hair (v. 4-7), Creation (v. 8-12), Nature/General Truth/Expectations (v. 13-15)

A. Hair (v. 4-7)

There's such a huge contrast between a man having his head uncovered and a woman having her head covered. does that mean that we need all women to have a certain head covering otherwise she is unholy? Paul uses the imagery that a woman praying with her Head uncovered is like a woman who shaves her head it brings disgrace Upon her. Conversely if a man prays with his head covered as if he has long hair and it brings disgrace to him. does this mean that a woman always needs to have a hat or some kind of covering and a man can never have anything upon his own head? No, the purpose of this passage is not to teach everyone must have a certain length of hair or certain thing to put on top of the head in order to be holy. If that were the case then how long is too long or how short is too short? Those lines are never given because it is not the point. Rather, it is a symbolic picture to help us understand that we must be in the proper confines that of the right Authority the design of God. Otherwise a man must always be bald otherwise he's not holy and he must always be clean shaven he can't have any hair upon his head whatsoever no eyebrows and included. The point is, “Don’t pretend to be something you’re not.”

Illustration: do you know how a child recognizes a boy from a girl and vice versa? they see the length of the hair. you often hear children say “that's a boy” and when you ask “how do you know that” they say “because they got short hair.” There's a certain General way that we expect people to look and be. in fact that same child who recognized a boy and a girl because of their hair length when they become a teenager and want to rebel what's the first thing they do? A girl might dye her hair. A boy might develop a bad attitude start speaking differently start behaving differently. why? because they are trying to develop their own identity, they're trying to find a way that they can distinguish themselves from their parents, pave their own path.

What we need to understand is that we aren’t meant to have an identity separate from everything and everyone else. As Christians we are grafted into the body of Christ: He is our head and we are His body. We are the family of God. Now my name is Christian, I am a follower of Jesus. And you know what? So are all who are in Christ. We try to find answers to our specific struggles and reasons for difficulties and a detailed map of God’s will for our lives, meanwhile, we forget that others are struggling with the same things. Alone we are insufficient and scared but together we are complete and can grow in Christ.

Let’s be careful about our perspective of Christianity. It’s not a solo-sport, it’s a team sport. We tend to ask questions like the rich young ruler, “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” and after he was told he realized it wasn’t enough so he said, “All of these I’ve kept since I was a boy. What am I still lacking?” Have you ever had that kind of approach? Wondering if you’ve done enough good to outweigh your bad, or shared the gospel enough times, prayed well enough, or asked something like, “how long should my hair be?” You know the problem with that approach? Whose works is that focused on? Mine. I didn’t realize we were saved by how good we are? Oh wait, we’re not. Christ saves us by His blood, His power, His grace. You couldn’t earn a spot in the family of God and He doesn’t expect to earn the spot now, He already paid the price and adopted you. You couldn’t, so God did.

Now we are walking this path together. Forgiven but weighted with the corruption of the flesh. We know when Jesus returns then our body of decay will be gone but until then we are living a life of faith. A faith where we trust the power of God to save and live to make my outsides match my inside.

Illus. Story of Jacob wrestling with God.

Paul’s picture is not about hair length, rather, it is about us playing the role God designed us to play. God is the Father we look to, Christ is the head we live through, and man and woman are the ones we live with. Fulfill their respective designs to lead and helpmeet so that the family of God can complete and we can grow through our struggles. Grow into what? Grow in Christ together.

B. Creation (v. 7-12)

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, God said at the end of each day that it was good, “First day there was light and God saw it was good”, “sky to separate the waters on the second day and God saw it was good”, “dry land appeared on the third day and God saw it was good”, etc. But on the sixth God said “It is not good… for man to be alone” and only after He created woman did God say “It is very good.”

If our faith journey is only about what I do and believe during the week and includes no one else then we miss the entire point. God made us to rely on one another. The church is a family, a community of believers that push each other on. Don’t fall into the trap of saying “It’s my problem, no one else’s.” or “It’s no one else’s business.” God calls us to gather together to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”) and even confessing our sins to one another (James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”). God calls us to help one another (Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”). If you think you can make this journey of godliness alone then you are sorely mistaken. Perhaps that’s the thing that’s been holding you back, you haven’t humbled yourself to say “I need help” and trusted another Christian to come alongside you and walk with you

What Paul is trying to teach in verse 7-12 is that man and woman are not independent of one another. rather, they are dependent on another, coexisting. For woman was taken from a man and created from the flesh of his rib and man is born a woman. our very existence is not independent of one another it hinges on one another. No one person is more important than the other rather we find that We are complete when we rely on one another. Man is made in the image of God woman is made in the image of man and they are all bringing glory to God when they function according to his design. We only bring glory when we live life together, as a community of believers.

Application: Be a team, a community. Fulfill each other.

C. Nature (v. 13-16)

So how long should man's hair be? how short can a woman's hair be? Should women wear head coverings whenever at church service? Paul says, “Judge for yourselves.” If it mattered more Paul would've given us further directions. his point is that we don't try to be something or not, bring honor to God and one another, and help each other.

Let us not be contentious. Paul gave no other practice among the churches or further details in this passage. It is left up to the believer how one should dress and behave so long as it is with a godly intent.

Do what is best in your scenario. The Bible term is “do what is expedient” or “do what is most beneficial.”

Conclusion

-