Recently we went to dinner with dear friends. We had an amazing night of laughter and good discussions and I think we all felt renewed after the evening was over. It carried over into the next day. I woke up feeling refreshed and filled up by their friendship.
There is something that happens when we meet together with friends in Christ. There is a strengthening and a joy that takes place that can’t happen when you just see each other at church once a week.
And I believe deep, fellowship with other believers is one of the things we are in desperate need of in the church today and in depletion of.
We are so busy going from one day to the next that we forget that really at the end of the day we were created for relationships. With God and each other.
These are some of the causes that I have found that keep us from building relationships with other believers:
*Busyness (huge factor)
*Fear (afraid of getting hurt)
*Walls (been hurt too many times)
*Pride (I’m not letting you know the real me and I don’t need anyone)
*Selfishness (I don’t have time for others)
*Discouragement (I have tried but can’t find anyone to connect with)
I think it’s safe to say we have all had one or more of these at one time or another. But what are we going to do about it?
These are some of the effects of not having a strong community around us:
*Isolation (Which can lead to temptation and sin. In one of the most tempting, seasons of my life what saved me was having a close, friend checking up on me)
*Loneliness
*Lack of growth and maturity in Christ (He made us to do this thing together!)
*Weak faith
*Discouragement and doubt
*Depression and despair
*Dullness (we have blind spots about our flaws, sometimes we need other believers to sharpen us and help us see what God may be trying to teach us).
I truly believe why the divorce rate in the church is so high and why many believers are falling into addictions and strongholds is the lack of genuine fellowship in their lives to strengthen, sharpen and encourage their faith.
Still not convinced? Let’s use God’s word as our light to show us what this type of community brings to our lives and brings to the lives of others.
Hebrews 10:24- Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Hebrews 3:13- But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Let’s hear from the Apostle Paul whom not only was a Rock Star for Jesus but a great example for us in relationships:
Here is Paul talking to the Thessalonians a new church:
1 Thessalonians 2:8- We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
3:1-3- We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in the spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith.
5:11- Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
There are so many scriptures on fellowship in God’s word, I encourage you to seek them out on why this is so vital in our spiritual lives.
The bottom line is- we need each other friends. We need to be “doing life together” as Pastor Rick Warren always says. And if we don’t have this in our spiritual lives, we will not thrive spiritually as God intended.
Some of you may be thinking, but I’ve tried and I can’t find anyone to connect with. But can I encourage you to not stop trying? I realized I had to quit trying to choose friends just like me. Some of my best and deepest relationships have come from friends that had qualities and gifts that I did not have, but needed in my life to sharpen and encourage me.
This whole community thing that God gives to us is not just about us, it’s about getting out there and reaching those that need our strength, hope and love. There are people out there that need to hear our story and how Christ has changed our lives.
May we wake up church and realize our busyness, pride, privacy walls and fences could be preventing us from one of the most amazing gifts God gave to us on this earth:
Each other.
