There are many reasons that it’s necessary for God’s people to be a community. The most important, I think, is that we cannot be who we were meant to be separate from each other. We are called to a mission, the first part of which is to create a community that reflects the nature of God.
We cannot be like God unless we are in a community where we can truly serve and love others.
(1Jo 4:19 ESV) 9 We love because he first loved us.
(Phi 2:5-8 ESV) 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
God’s plan is to restore us to his image, to become the people we were originally meant to be before sin entered the world. We were made in the image of God — like God — and then we fell from God’s image by sinning. God now seeks to restore us to his image.
(2Co 3:18 ESV) 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
And God loves. And he serves. And for us to be like God, we must be loving servants. And you can’t love and you can’t be a servant unless you are in community with others. It really is that simple. Live alone, hurt no one, be nice and you’ll not be able to serve or love anyone. Not really. Not really — because true God-like love is a sacrificial, serving, personal love. Sending a check to a good cause is loving, but it’s not enough. It’s not God-like love. And it doesn’t restore you to God’s image.
You see, the point is to heal your brokenness and restore you to what you were always meant to be. It’s to re-create you in God’s image.
(Rom 8:29 ESV) 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers
True joy is found in being restored to God’s image.
(Isa 32:17 ESV) 17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
(Isa 55:12-13 ESV) 12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
(Rom 8:6 ESV) 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
(Rom 14:17-18 ESV) 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
God promised his people restoration — a restoration found in Jesus. We only have real restoration when God re-creates us in his image, in community.
(Eph 2:19-22 ESV) 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, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
(Eph 4:20-24 ESV) 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!– 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Indeed, we’ve been baptized into Christ, and therefore are part of his singular body.
(Rom 12:4-5 ESV) 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
(Eph 4:15-16 ESV) 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
And here we see the fact that we are not so much individually restored to God’s image as corporately. We are the body of Christ — whose image we are — are a community and not as individuals.
(2Co 3:18 ESV) 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
“[W]e … are being transformed into the same image …” We together create one image — the image of Christ. Yes, we are individually being transformed as well, but we are not individually the body of Christ. It is the church — the community of believers — that is Christ on earth. And it is as a church that we most look like Jesus.
This is a powerful point. We can and should each do a better job of living like Jesus individually. And yet it’s a terrible burden to take on as individuals. How can I can accomplish Christ’s mission? As an individual, I cannot.
But as a community, we can build each other up in love. As a community, we can mingle our gifts to build something bigger than the sum of its parts. As a community, we can accomplish much more for the Kingdom of God than we could accomplish alone. As a community, we can be the body of Christ.
Thank you, Jay. Vitally important message.
Paul said,
…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son
of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:12-13
"the body of Christ" is singular; "we," of course, is plural; and "all" means all.
To me, that does not mean the sum of all the individuals, it is all the individuals, summed.
It seems to me that the Good Shepherd is willing to leave the entire flock to go after the one lamb that went astray. He values the individual as well as the flock. It’s not the flock who saves the individual. it’s Jesus who gathers the flock togather. It seems that the individual and the flock are of equal importance.
Certainly both the individual and the flock are valued. But it's not either/or. The fact that there even IS a flock is predicated on the importance of each individual. But why did the shepherd go after the individual? Because the individual was important, sure, but it was important that the individual be a part of the flock. The shepherd didn't leave the one sheep on the rolls and call him every few months. He didn't tell the rest of the flock to go out and be individuals, also. The individual is too important to leave outside of the flock.
I think that this flock community relationship is what Jay is describing. A flock made up of individuals of no importance would be a pretty weak community.
The relative importance of individual or flock seems to be moot because they are so interrelated.
Rick,
As Dr T said, it's not either-or. It's both-and. We don't get to pick the version of Christianity we like.
Think of an army. An army is no stronger than the training and commitment of its soldiers, but there is no army of just one soldier. The army is effective because the soldiers work together toward a common goal.
A properly led army has both leadership, submission to leadership, and individual initiative. A purely top-down leadership will be ineffective. A leadership that doesn't lead will soon find its army defeated. It's leadership, submission, and individual initiative, all bound together with a common purpose and strategy.
Are individuals important to the army? Yes, the army is made of individuals — who must be recruited, trained, and led as individuals to become part of a greater whole. Can an individual be an army? No.
It's not a perfect analogy, but it's Jesus' own —
(Mat 16:18 ESV) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
"Gates" refers to the gates of a city, which are a defense against an attacking army. Jesus pictures his followers as an army seeking to overcome the minions of hell hiding behind city walls. And they work together to batter down the gates and seize hell for Jesus.
Theophilus Dr,
Thank you for your reply.
. . . . If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:3-7). KJV
In this verse It appears that I must have an “individual” attention to the “Light” in order to be in “fellowship”. If I walk in the light, one on one with God, as an individual, then I am in fellowship with the others who are also walking in the Light. My personal individual attention to the Light determines my fellowship. So then I can have fellowship with brothers and sisters in China whom I have never met or even been involved with in any “community” like activity.
Sometimes a collective or subset with a common vision can form within the greater fellowship of believers. Even though these subset communities may be true believers with a sincere vision, I can be viewed as an individualist if I don’t get on board with their program. These are the kinds of communities that I am sometimes not sure of. Participation in one of these collectives is not what determines whether I am in fellowship with Him or not.
Maybe overall we are in agreement.
I am in agreement with what you said. I think we are expressing the same thing from slightly different perspectives.
I'd like to add some thoughts to the body.
I also see tht the church is Christ being made visible to the world and Christ in action in this world.
But I also see the great importance that the individual members fuction as members. I I – let's say – were the "butt" of Christ's body, then I would be heavily dependent on the legs just below me. If they don't work properly and smoothly I'd get bumped every time "Christ" sits down. As we all know from our own bodily experience …
What does that mean? I need to know my place in the body and my function. If I am to be liked to other members in service (Eph 4:16), I need to be and to operate as whatever I am in Christ.
Typical church life centers around Sunday worship, Wednesday night Bible Study and … ?? … There are some activities like youth group … volleyball …? … saturday night singing …? … But is this Christ in action in this world? Or there a lot more to it?
The activities I mentioned tend to blind us to the needs of the world and the work of the church. There are so many ways to serve, to offer hospitality, to visit needy people … yet that's hardly ever a focus of our teaching. It is left to the individuals to so if they feel compelled to do so. Well, sometimes there is a big "social event", where all do something good together, but for the rest of the year it is business as usual. Charity a life-style? Christ a life-style?
Yet, since not all are called to go and visit – because some are truly terrible comforters – these "some" have to find ways to support those who actually go. Back to the Body:
The "mouth" may be the one who speaks, the "hands" may be the ones to touch … but the "feet" are the ones who "carry" "mouth" and "hands" to the sick person in hospital. It is not difficult at all to imagine how this should workl out in real life. But we need to know what our place and function is in Christ's body.
Alexander
I read this post after I read Jay's "Thought Question" based on David Brooks' article. I think they go hand in hand. To be more than an individual, there must me a generous gift of modesty and gratitude. It is in interacting with each other that we grow. If I think that I have all truth and refuse to listen to those who have a different perspective than I, I harden my heart against the possibility of growth.
I remember visiting a friend who loved to find and polish semi-precious stones. How he found them is a mystery to me; they looked like common gravel when he would pick them out of a stream bed. Yet, he would put these pieces of gravel into a stone polisher, they would come out ready to be made into beautiful jewelry. What was the stone polisher? It was simply a drum with a small electric motor to rotate it so that the stones inside bumped against each other, knocking off the rough edges. After several hours (or days) of this, the stones were polished and beautiful.
Of course, the analogy with the church is imperfect – but it does show the importance of our being in the "community" of the stone polishing drum. Perhaps the analogy is better if we continue to the jeweler taking the polished stones and making them into pieces that draw on all of the colors and brilliance of the different kinds of gems.
If I harden myself against any change within my own heart and perspectives, perhaps I am just a piece of common gravel after all. I remember the preacher who boasted that he had never changed his opinion but once in his (long – more than 80 years) life – and that we to become more strict in his understanding of the strictures against divorce and remarriage.
How can such a person grow at all in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Good posts, and the analogy of gravel-appearing rocks rubbing and polishing and changing the appearance to a stone of value. Of course, there are many examples — the refiner's fire, etc. But they are all helpful in bring a visual reflection of a spiritual process.
Many decades ago (don't ask how many) when Joe Barnett was at Broadway and sent out a brief devotional thought, he told the story of a young visitor to a construction site where a large stone arch was being built. The arch had been built, except for the stone at the top, the capstone. Several craftsmen were on the ground beating and chiseling on a large stone. The visitor asked why they were hammering chips off of on that stone. The response was, "We have to get it into the right shape down here, so that it will fit when it goes up there." This analogy was our work "down here" helping shape one another in preparation for heaven, to "fit up there."
That's also how the temple was constructed during Solomon's reign.
Interesting how the analogy of building a temple extends to the church:
Ephesians 2:19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as
the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
We are individual stones. But we need a loving community to help get us into the "best fit" shape for heaven. The better the shaping process, the better the fit.
Fitting together in the earthly body of Christ, the church, is preparation for fitting together in the New Jerusalem.
Could the natural tendency to "resist change" be a fleshly rebellion against God's reshaping process? Could "We've always done it that way" translate into "We like our gravelly shape?"
Hmmm.
The problem is ther is no community in Americas churches I have looked for a church for over 15 years looking for only 2 requirements ! the true Gospel being preached [ where I found pastors poring their hearts into their teaching ] and 2 a community of believers willing to share time and their biblical understanding [ which happens all the time at the bars and other eating establishments.] But not a any of the churches I have tried to be a part of. Its 2 hrs on a Sunday morning where everybody gets a good "attaboy' and then everyone leaves for the "good " stuff the world has to offer because "we got that part of the week out of the way and checked off our to do list' now lets get on with life
Wow. A "state of the fellowship" description that is all too accurate. That's why I believe the church in America will soon experience God's refining discipline. The landscape will change, and it could become alarming within 10-15 years, and shortly afterward it will be too late. 1 Corinthians 10.
Concerning community, check out this site: Elmendorf Christian Community I've been there for a visit a few years ago. They are not perfect, but pretty close 😉
Alexander