By David ReayMonday 20 Nov 2017LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Ephesians 4:15-16
15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (NLT)
Our Christian faith is intensely personal but not at all private. We are on a journey which is not a solo journey. We are hopefully growing towards greater maturity but our text reminds us that for that to happen we need each other.
While you can, technically, be a Christian without gathering with other Christians, you can’t be a growing Christian. There is always the danger of drift and stagnation, of simply fitting into our surrounding culture, of going so far astray that we end up shipwrecked.
Christian community can help us avoid those dangers. It can help us hold on when we feel like letting go; it can help us trust God when we feel he has betrayed us. Our journey is not always an easy one and we need all the help we can get. And God so often provides his help in human form.
But we have to admit it doesn’t always work out like this. So many followers of Jesus find church a burden rather than a blessing, part of the problem rather than a way to resolve the problem. We can perhaps at times expect too much of other Christians, but are entitled to have some expectations. How sad if we withdraw and think we can do it on our own. How sad if we find the gatherings of fellow Christians a chore, a burden, a frustration.
Each of us has a mutual obligation. To seek out Christian community. To help make that community a place of growth and transformation, of challenge and consolation.
Blessings
David Reay