INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY

"As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight."

Psalm 16:3



As I put on my winter coat and triple wrapped a scarf around my neck before stepping out into a bitter cold Minnesota night to go to GEMS Crazy Love Bible Study, I said to my husband, “I wish everyone had a small group like this.” Although we’re not always united in opinion, we are bound by a great love for God and one another. This once a month gathering is a precious time of interacting with God’s people.

David felt the same way about the people he did life with. He forged friendships with those who encouraged him to stay strong in his faith. His dear friend Jonathan helped him find strength in God (1 Samuel 23:16). David’s mighty men gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the LORD had promised (1 Chronicles 11:10). The prophet Nathan loved David enough to rebuke him, delivering God’s word on his sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12).

Do your friends encourage you to stay strong in your faith in God? Are you committed, like Peter was, that until his dying breath he would remind brothers and sisters in Jesus about the things of God, and urge them to pay attention to Scripture? I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me (2 Peter 1:13-14).

Interacting with God’s people must go deeper than talking about the weather and go further than the pot of coffee that is shared after Sunday morning worship. Intentional community must be central to our relationships with God’s people. We must . . .

Spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).
Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13).
Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:13).
Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).
Do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers (Romans 6:10).

That’s a tall order for introverts and independent souls. If we’re not intentionally living in community we need Paul’s reminder that Christ gave Himself to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people (not individuals!) that are His very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:14).

PASSION Step: How can you share life and encourage another believer today?

We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as it if it were some club or support group. Christ died for His people, and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died.

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

Grace and peace,
Lenae

OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR OTHERS

"For none of us lives to himself (herself) alone and none of us dies to himself (herself) alone."

Romans 14:7



Oswald Chambers doesn’t mince words. In one of his devotional thoughts within My Utmost for His Highest he delivers a full course serving about the necessity of interacting with God’s people. He asks, “Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people?”

As God’s people we are to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:39), be kind and forgiving to each other (Ephesians 4:32), confess our sins and pray for one other (James 5:16), encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11), but be responsible for each other? Am I my sister’s keeper?

After Cain attacked and killed his brother Abel, the LORD asked Cain about his brother’s whereabouts. Cain callously retorted, “Am I my brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9)? He expressed no remorse or responsibility. He didn’t care about his brother or where his body lay. The only thing that concerned him was his punishment. How was this whole messy deal going to impact him?

When it comes to life and relationships, how often do we need Rick Warren’s reminder within his book, The Purpose Drive Life? The first sentence of the first chapter reads, “It’s not about you.”

What we do and say and think matters. First and foremost they matter because God will hold us accountable for them. Each of us will give an account of himself (herself) to God (Romans 14:12).

Secondly, they matter, not because of how they’ll impact us, but how they’ll impact others. In all that we do and say, eat and drink, you and I must make up our minds not to put any stumbling blocks or obstacles in our brother or sister’s way (Romans 14:13). It is our responsibility to never cause someone to stumble or to hinder his or her faith in Jesus Christ.

When Paul was addressing the church in Rome and Corinth, the matters of dispute were dietary ­– some in good conscience could eat meat that had been used in idol worship, others could not (Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8). There are other church-severing issues that are making headlines today. God’s Word remains the same. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. When you sin against your brothers (sisters) in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ (1 Corinthians 8:9, 12).

PASSION Step: Is there anything in your life that may be hindering a brother or sister in Christ in their faith? If so, make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification (Romans 14:19) today.

If I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers.

Oswald Chambers


Grace and peace,
Lenae