MADE FOR COMMUNITY
Susan Murray
Today’s Scripture: “So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:12, ESV
Theme: Stretch yourself for the purpose of building up the Church.
NOT ALONE
No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
"No Man in an Island" - John Donne, 1624 A.D.
After creating Adam, God said, “It’s not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18 NIV) --so, he made Eve. We have one God yet in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God Himself is in community. Being created in His image means we were created for community. It’s not optional.
The effects of isolation are harmful both psychologically and physically including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, decline in general health, increase in cortisol stress hormone, and in severe cases, paranoia and hallucinations.
BETTER TOGETHER
Communities are typically built around a shared language, race, culture, religion, interest, or profession. Bonds are created, bringing a sense of belonging and mutual understanding of shared life experiences, building each other up through encouragement.
No one can do everything in a community, so we need each other. All of us have something we can do that others cannot. When everyone does what they are skilled at doing, the whole community thrives. Where would we be without plumbers, doctors, housekeepers, and the person who holds and turns the Stop/Slow sign during road repairs. Doing similar tasks together confirms the idiom, “Many hands make light work.” We need each other; without each other we would die.
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
The church at large is a community, built not on race, language, culture, interest, or profession, but on the belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. This Gospel builds a unique community that can cross all other community lines, bringing unity despite all the other differences and conflicts that occurs between different community groups.
The church is not the building but the people. The Bible describes the church as a family and as a body. We each have responsibilities which come with the privilege of being a child of God. He has given each of us, by grace, skills and abilities. In the church, He also gives us spiritual gifts. Yes, you have a spiritual gift that was not given to you to make something of yourself, but to build up others. The book of Romans has a list that includes encouragement, teaching, serving, mercy, giving, and knowledge. Another list is found in I Corinthians 12:11-14.
Paul writes, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his 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: 11-13, NIV). We come in as infants (Ephesians 4:14) and we need help from those who are more mature to grow; and when we grow in maturity, we can help the next person. We can’t actually learn to put off the old self and its sinfulness and put on the new self of holiness all alone (Ephesians 4:22-23). It is within the church community that we learn how to forgive, how to encourage, and how to become humble. It’s where we can confess to one another and are healed (James 5:16). Because we love each other, we can admonish one another when someone goes astray. We will not become more like Jesus without each other. The community thrives when we all use the gifts that God has provided.
POWER LIVING
Jesus left certain powers behind when He became a human being. He allowed Himself to be stripped of all power and, at the end of His life, even community with his Father (Mark 15:34) so that you and I could be saved. His death restored our community with God, and we gained the power given of the Holy Spirit to live rightly. That power promised in Acts 1:8 came upon Jesus’ disciples during Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. Though they were a rag-tag, unimpressive bunch, they were transformed by Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. They ignited a fire that changed the world.
The first century church was visibly different from the culture. The same Spirit dwells in you. We can partake of the same power of the resurrection (Philippians 3:10). So don’t let fear of anything stop you from stretching out of your comfort zone to use the gifts that God has given to you. “For God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of a good mind” (I Timothy 1:7, NLT). Not only will the church be blessed, but the whole community, as we work together as the body of Christ.
Make It Personal: Believer, you have a gift that others need you to put into action. Do you know what it is? If not, first pray and ask God to guide you to your gift. He didn’t give it to you to hide it from you. Speak with others. They may see what you don’t. Don’t look for an activity that will make you feel important or make a name for yourself. Most often your gift is what makes you feel alive as you use it. If you are not a believer, then I want you to see the beauty of Jesus and what He did for you till you love Him back. Are you in a season stuck in hurts, habits, and hang-ups? I invite you to come to Celebrate Recovery to receive healing, so that you too can mature, serving others with your gift.
Pray: Father, I thank You for Your grace. You would have been justified in abandoning the world, but Your love would not let you do that. You instead gave up Your power so we could have power to live as You have called us to live. Let us not grow weary in seeking You in community with each other, so that we may become mature with changed lives that will be a witness to the watching world around us. Help us to live out our gifts, always remembering that the greatest gift is love. Amen
Read: Ephesians 4:11-16, 21-25, 29-32; I Corinthians 12:4-31; Colossians 3:15-17; Romans 12:3-8
Weekly Memory Verse:
“I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11, ESV