Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Hebrews 10:23-25 & Ephesians 2:10
One of the recurring themes – or core theological understandings – expressed in this blog is the value of experiencing community, especially in terms of how we practice faith. My writings often point to the fact that we were created (imagined, designed, formed, and gifted to this world) specifically for the purpose of being in relationship both with God and one another.
This is a particularly important concept for men to grasp, in the face of so many cultural ideologies that promote individuality, self-sufficiency, go-it-alone, do-it-myself, strong-and-silent, real-men-don’t-need-help etc. etc.
Add to this our cultural proclivity for competitiveness, winners and losers, “I’m right, you’re wrong”, and “we’re the only true faith” – or religion or denomination or ideology etc.
My mother once said it best, when a conservative friend asked why on earth she and dad joined Wake Forest Presbyterian Church: “If I waited to find somewhere where everyone agreed on everything then the church would have a membership of one. Me!”
Everything doesn’t have to be a competition!
I love the church we attend, but we don’t hold a monopoly on truth; I love my denomination, but it’s not necessarily better than all the others; I love the way I experience God, but others love God in their way too; I love America, but people from other lands love their countries just as much.
In other words, I believe the benefits we gain from community, from fellowship, from listening, from mutual respect, from encouraging one another, and learning from our differences serve to strengthen all of us.
So I am always pleased when I find other voices that express these sentiments with clarity and wisdom. And that is what happened Sunday morning at church, when the “People’s Preparation (for worship)” contained the following words from a section of the Presbyterian “Book of Order.”
The congregation is the basic form of the church, but it is not of itself a sufficient form of the church. Thus, congregations are bound together in communion with one another, united in relationships of accountability and responsibility…
“Stand Alone” is antithetical to God’s plan for community! It is clear that we need one another! We need one another in friendship. We need one another in covenant groups (like the men’s groups I have led). We need one another as we “do” mission. We need one another as worshipping communities. And we need other congregations in the same way.
Not so we can all be in lock-step and agree on everything, but so we can learn to be strong together, and to live as God intended, in mutually beneficial community.
You can read – below – the entire paragraph from yesterday’s church bulletin.
Better yet, we can all begin to practice community by – first – listening more than we talk, and being intentional when it comes to seeking out support, encouragement, and accountability.
In love, and because love anticipates growth in relationships – DEREK
“The congregation is the church engaged in the mission of God in its particular context. The triune God gives to the congregation all the gifts of the gospel necessary to being the Church. The congregation is the basic form of the church, but it is not of itself a sufficient form of the church. Thus, congregations are bound together in communion with one another, united in relationships of accountability and responsibility, contributing their strengths to the benefit of the whole, and are called, collectively, the church.”
G-1.0101: The Mission of the Church
Derek, good to read your blog, I often consider the issues, on matter of Spirit, and how the vessel needs to be regularly checked for bias’s that become stated facts, because they are never dealt with. The story of bias and others, is told in the parable, when the apostles return and tell their Master, how successful they were, casting out spirits etc, and then complaining, when they encounter others, who are saying much the same as the apostles, but not from their new found grouping, Jesus tells them, the apostles, to get on with it, that those who encourage others to seek the Father, are also correct, its in the holy books, the words might have different meanings, but it short it says, don’t abuse others who come from other parts, who encourage the eternal truth, amen.