Community (2)

Today I want to spend a few minutes talking about Christian community and its importance. It is something we are told in scripture that is needed and we are told not to forsake gathering with other believers, yet we often make excuses and ignore this command in scripture. The description of the early church in Acts 2 says,

Acts 2:42-47

*“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

*And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

As we compare the early church and the community that was formed from the apostles going out and spreading the news of Jesus, what do we need to look at today to truly understand what Godly community is? What does Godly community and fellowship look like? How do we make sure we are in obedience to the Word of God on this? We see multiple reasons that we are ordered in Hebrews 10, as followers of Christ to be in community with other believers. There is a necessity for submission to biblical authority, for increasing each other’s knowledge, and for gathering with each other. Paul writes in

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.”

Solomon tells us in Proverbs

Proverbs 27:17

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

We see in Hebrews that the issue of people forsaking the community and fellowship was already an issue in the early church. It is an issue that has continued throughout time even to this day. We are not meant to walk through life alone! It is not just for our own sake but for the sake of others that we must gather. Like Proverbs says iron sharpens iron.

If we do not participate and surround ourselves with others that are building us up and helping us to grow then we will see our blades dull as there is no community, there is no interaction, to keep the blades sharpened. This can lead to leaving the church completely if we aren’t careful and to gaining a “look out for #1” attitude.

How often do we make excuses that we will just listen to the recording later, or we can stay home and watch the live stream in our PJs, or I am going to commune with God in nature today it’s such a beautiful day out…we come up with excuse after excuse to not gather with the community of saints in direct disobedience to the word of God. When we make excuses and we don’t participate in community, we totally miss why it is so vital to us and our Christian walk!

Acts 17:6

“And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,”

It was not a singular person that was being referenced but it was because there was a fellowship and a community that it was said they have turned the world upside down. The early church literally turned the world upside down in the words of the Romans. By going out and as a community taking care of each other and not just those within their community, but going out to the widows and orphans, that society discarded and refused to care for, and feeding and clothing them. This is what we are told in James is the meaning of pure religion,

James 1:27

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

We too often look at church and the term religion as a bad thing, but pure and undefiled religion before God matters. Religion matters. We must stop turning our backs on the rich history of theology and doctrine seen throughout church history. Our history matters. Its where Christianity has gone throughout the years since Christ began to build His church here on earth. Doctrine and theology matters. Without solid theology and doctrine in the life of a believer they have no firm foundation to stand on. Without that firm foundation we can easily be swayed by the words of this world that twist and bastardize scripture to make it fit their narrative. Scripture is not meant to fit our narrative but to fit God’s narrative and we are to change our narrative to match.

“The Fact is we often times read scripture thinking of what it ought to say, rather than what it does say.” (Charles Spurgeon) Our heritage matters! It is not something to discard but it is something to take and build on.

What does fellowship truly mean? D.Martin Lloyd Jones says,

”Well, I have looked up the word, and it means “a deep association,” “a true communion,” “a close relationship of which the highest example is marriage.” It is a word that is sometimes used to denote “partnership in business.” It is not just meeting occasionally in a church building, shaking hands at the end of a service or meeting, and going home. That is not a church; no fellowship is involved in that.

True fellowship is never anything superficial. It is deep. It is vital. It becomes the main thing in life. When people become Christians, they become one. They enter into this community. They are in a family together. They are united by certain bonds that are indissoluble.”

Lloyd-Jones, M. (2000). The Fellowship. In Authentic Christianity (1st U.S. ed., Vol. 1, p. 137). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

The church fellowship, community, is a family. It is a people that have been adopted into royalty by God the Father and He calls His children, that truly become a family.

Romans 8:15-17

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

Ephesians 2:19

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”

We are not alone. We have a family that surrounds us. That crosses lines of race, denomination, tradition and stands whole as the body of Christ. We all have our part for the body to function correctly and to ultimately bring God glory in all we do. We must realize who we are in Christ. We are no longer outcast, we are no longer slaves to sin, we are adopted and are children of the most High God. We are made heirs with Christ of the kingdom of God. We are royalty. Romans says that we must suffer with Christ while we are here in these mortal bodies, but we are promised that if we suffer with Him that we will be glorified with Him as well. This adoption makes us all part of a community of believers. We suffer in this life, but we don’t have to suffer alone. God gives us others so that when one of us struggles or suffers, the others can lift him up and help. When another struggles, we can as a community of believers, a fellowship, meet their needs.

Acts 2

describes the church as, “they met every day to listen to the apostles’ doctrine, to have fellowship with the apostles, to break bread with them, to pray with them.”

People have risked their very lives to not forsake gathering with other believers throughout Christian history. Whether it was the early roman church that met in the catacombs to avoid the roman soldiers, to the Waldensians in France and Italy that met in each other’s homes before the reformation was even begun and when that wasn’t possible due to threat of death would meet in caves in the hills. The Scottish covenanters that would meet to take communion together and had to post lookouts for the English soldiers that would come to kill them. Today we have the modern church in places like china and the middle east where it is illegal to follow Christ. In these areas people to this day literally risk their own lives to still gather and to worship and have true fellowship with each other. Daily people lose their lives for the sake of Christ throughout this world, yet they don’t give up. Instead, the more they are persecuted the larger we see the church grow.

John writes in

1 John 3:14

“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.”

We must have love for the brothers and sisters God has placed in our lives. We must love the people of God. We can’t look at God and say I love You God but I hate the church. The church is full of sinners and hypocrites. I just need You God and no one else. How horrible of a place we put ourselves with these thoughts. Jesus came to save the sick, not the well. If you expect to find a perfect church where you won’t ever be hurt, or someone will never wrong you, then you are due for disappointment. We are all broken people. We are all sinners before God and it is only through His supernatural power that we are capable of any good in our lives at all. We are to love each other. We are to sharpen each other. We are to work together as a body of Christ to turn this world upside down through pure and undefiled religion. We take care of each other and those around us.

As many know I just returned this past week from a 7 day short term mission trip to El Salvador. This country and the people there are those that God has given a special place in my heart and life. From my first trip in 2014 I knew that I would return again and again until God says to stop. The organization I went with this time is called Mentor leaders and I want to use them as an example of what we as a community of believers can do together. We came together on this trip from different walks of life, different ages, different regions, different denominations, and even doctrinal differences. We came together to spend 7 days loving on the children and the people of one of the smallest, poorest villages in El Salvador, Monzon. The gross avg income for El Salvador is around $3,600 a year. That’s $300 a month to live on. What Mentor Leaders has done is they have come into this village and they have setup child sponsorships for the children in this village to be able to go to school, get an education, learn about Jesus. They feed the children of the school that without that might not have much other food. They minister to those around them in the community. They have worked and brought water purification to the school that allows clean drinking water for those in the village. They have taken care of their community. They are turning these communities upside down, with the banner of Christ going before them. This is what we are called to do. We as a community should be building each other up, working together, and going out and showing the love of Christ to our communities, not just in words, words are always necessary, but showing Christ in our actions as well.

James 2:15-17 “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Are you a part of Christian Community?

Are you just showing up to church once a week then going your own way or not even going to church at all? Do you get involved in service projects, and bible studies, are you participating and being part of community? Are you allowing yourself to be sharpened by surrounding yourself with like-minded believers and digging deep into the Word of God together, or are you just a surface level follower of Christ?

Do you love other believers?

Can we truly say that we love other believers or are we just saying words without any meaning behind it? Do we show our love in how we act or are we just useless noise because love is not in our hearts? Sometimes it can be hard to love other believers, but can we say that we do or that we are actively asking God for grace to allow us to?

Do we truly seek fellowship with other Christians?

What are we doing to be part of community? To build deep and meaningful relationships. If we have to miss a service or a Bible study do, we have such a deep connection that we can recognize the difference in our walk with God and in our attitude when we don’t have that accountability and that sharpening happen in our lives?

We need each other. It is plain and simple. Without each other we can accomplish nothing. Without each other we will become dull and useless. Without each other and love for each other we abide in death instead of the wonderful joy of abundant life that God desires for us.