Ever wondered what God intended His community to look like? Or why the Bible tells us we need community in our lives? There are probably countless reasons why people try to tackle their faith journey alone, some of which might even seem logical outside of God’s big picture – most things do. An online survey probed around to uncover some reasons why people avoid linking up with God’s community:
• God is great, but Christians tend to bother me
• God said to follow Him, not His people
• If I want to feel guilty about myself, I’ll call my mother
• Too many churches and pastors have burned me
• Three letters: NFL
• I don’t need to attend a church to be a strong Christian
Sure, some of the answers are pretty comical. But nevertheless, they prove a sobering point: too many people have misunderstood the value of God’s community. How do we shift to a healthier view? How do we discover what God intended community to look like? And how can we experience the value of it all? Luke 5:17-26 holds answers to these important questions.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS A COMMUNITY PROJECT: Verses 17-18
Although we would like to portray ourselves with unwavering faith all the time, our spiritual progress fluctuates. Sometimes we find ourselves passionate for God. Excited about His work in our lives. Hungry for His Word. Eager to pray. But there are moments along the journey when we find ourselves spiritually unmotivated, too. Like the paraplegic, we become unaided and broken. It‘s precisely in these moments when God uses others to help restore us to wholeness (Hebrews 10:24). Being surrounded by other Christians is critical to our spiritual growth.
Joshua Harris’ Stop Dating The Church states it this way: My individual and direct relationship with God (through Jesus) is the greatest privilege and He is truly all I need – and yet God in His wisdom has created us to need others, too…God has ordained that much of His graces flows to us (through) others (Page 48).
Real community is deeper than Sunday morning gatherings. We can attend a church our entire lives and never experience what true community is all about. Community is about living the journey together - being surrounded by the right people – those who are willing to encourage us onward when our faith comes undone.
GOD EXPRESSES HIS LOVE THROUGH COMMUNITY: Verses 19-20
It’s hard to know how far these men traveled to bring their friend to Jesus. 30 miles? 40? 70? Either way, the journey was surely daunting. The selflessness of these virtual strangers moved the heart of Christ and their friend’s life was changed forever (Luke 5:20). God’s grace was expressed through the love of these four servants.
Faith is personal. Even intimate. But it’s not private. God pours His goodness into us so we can pour goodness into others – as agents of love. Consider Jesus’ greatest commandment in Mark 12:30-31. Loving God means we must love people. And to live for God means realizing that a large portion of our lifestyle must be wrapped around His people. When we separate ourselves from God’s community, we essentially separate a large portion of who God is from our lives.
GOD DESIRES TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO COMMUNITY: Verses 21-26
Now the friend carries the mat the once carried him. Jesus’ response to this once unaided sinner is gripping. But when we look deeper, Jesus’ motive behind his response teaches us about God’s desire to reveal Himself to community (Luke 5:24). The love and grace Jesus expressed revealed who Jesus was – and that was precisely His motive – to make Himself known to a broken world.
Something extraordinary takes place when we gather together (Matthew 20:18). Does this mean God is not present when we seek Him on our own? No. God is forever present in our lives. But when we gather together as community, we find spiritual accountability. Momentum. Direction. God uses His work in community to lead us accordingly – something individual worship cannot provide.
WE’RE STILL BECOMING
Probably one of the greatest gifts God provides His people is the excitement of living the journey that is undefined. It reminds us of our dependence on Him. So much of our faith journey is unknown. And while we wait on God’s leading by trusting in His promises, Luke 5:17-26 teaches us some valuable lessons we can begin living today. Are you experiencing the value of God’s community?
REFLECT:
Q: It's no secret that many people avoid "Linking Up" with other Christians. Why do you think this is? How might you help the people in your life shift to a healthier view?
Q: Was there a time when you were disconnected from the church you were attending? How did this affect your faith? What prompted you to "Link Up"? If you find yourself still disconnected, what's holding you back?
Q: Who's been the most influential person in your life? What impact has this person had on your life? Why do you think God encourages us to be surrounded by other Christians?
READ: Acts 2:42-47
Q: What kind of community do you think God is forming at Connections? What values are apparent? How do these compare to the values found in Acts 2:42-47?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
What Are We Doing Here? LINKING UP
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4 comments:
Thought you did a great job leading the conversation on Sunday Shawn. Thanks for all of the work and prep.
Luke 5:20 jumps up and grabs me from this story. Jesus forgives one man his sins based on not only his faith, but the faith of his friends.
Not only does this reaffirm our need to have others believing/trusting God with us- but it also tweaks my theology a bit.
We tend to view faith as an innately individualistic thing. I believe and God forgives me. You believe and God forgives you.
Jesus words to this band of brothers bleed past those boundaries.
I'm not saying that Jesus will forgive others who don't have faith if we believe on their behalf. This man probably had his own faith.
But I sure do like it when Jesus makes me stop and re-think.
Maybe your questions were rhetorical, but here is why my family is disconnected from or not "linking up" with the local church...
My husband and I are disconnected from the church because we have grown tired of attending church and small groups and still not actually connecting with anyone. People are either too busy trying to figure out how they can "help" us because they feel good in the "saving" role or are too busy smiling and saying "fine thanks and you?" to the how are you question and we spend months not really knowing anyone. We have no desire to be "saved" from anything (as God kind of already did that) but we would love to have MUTUAL friendships with other Christians where we support each other. We haven't found a place where we've been able to experience this since moving from our home state four years ago.
We have a daughter with special needs and is unable to attend church so my husband and I would have to attend church separately and not growing closer to the church community makes us just want to throw in the towel (on church, not God). Night Bible studies are not possible for us as our daughter goes to bed at 6 p.m. because she wakes up 2-7 times a night and is up for the day by 5 a.m. Men's Bible studies are at 8 a.m. on weekday mornings when my husband is working, women's bible studies are on weekdays where childcare is required and puts me in the same position of not having a place for my daughter - or we have so many doctor's appointments I've been unable to attend anything during the week.
How are we supposed to feel connected to the church when this is the way it is?
Recently, I tried to join a MOPS group at a local church I'd been attending. Every single meeting for several months fell on a day when my daughter had an important doctor's appointment. I emailed the organizer to let her know that I should let someone else have my spot since it looked like the doctor's visits were just going to continue and she said "okay, thanks." and I never heard from them again. I don't need help, I need a friend. We've lived here for almost two years, tried countless churches and made attempts to go on retreats, join studies, etc and have found trying to get "inside" the formed "clique" of the church unbelievably difficult. Add to that our daughter's challenges and it's felt impossible to the point that we've stopped trying.
What's amazing to me that you have kept trying as hard as you have to find a church community. I have known many people (myself included) who have experienced similar rejection by churches, and the fact that this happens so regularly makes me marvel that there aren't more people who have given up on church.
FWIW, I don't think that most local churches go out of their way to make it difficult for newcomers to connect; I just think it's such an easy pattern to fall into that if a church isn't constantly reminding itself to focus its attention on newcomers, it just kind of becomes self-focused by default.
Also FWIW, of all the churches I've been a part of, I think Connections does a pretty good job with this. That's not to say we're perfect, and I know that many people visit us and decide we're not the place for them, but I think our pastor and our leaders are pretty united in the belief that our church isn't here so that those of us who are already here can all be friends with each other; we're here so we can become friends with people who aren't here yet, or to find ways to help them become friends with each other.
And yeah, there's the whole God and Jesus part; we think that's important, too. But as someone once said, a lot of people aren't nearly as concerned with whether there's life after death, as they are with whether there's life after life. Salvation's a fine thing, but if your life on earth is sad or lonely or friendless, then you're not experiencing the abundant life that Jesus said he wanted us to have.
I don't know if you've visited Connections (or even if you're local) but if you do, I hope you'll post again and let us know what you thought. As someone at Connections who is trying to help people connect, insights like yours are tremendously valuable and I'd love to hear more.
Thanks Anonymous for taking the time to share your perspective so honestly.
I too am impressed by your ability to give up on church (or the expressions of church you are encountering) but not give up on God. That's a (healthy in my opinion) distinction many folks can't make.
Your sense of frustration and disappointment is obvious, understandable, and compelling. Although I've never walked in your shoes (and probably wouldn't have been able to walk nearly as far as you have)- I've had a similar disappointment with some folks in the church wanting to be connected without really being connected.
I'm thinking of one small group I was in where people wanted to meet every week, but never really wanted to expose who they were. Those get-togethers just ended up feeling like a duty to me.
I also appreciate your insight into just wanting a friend vs. wanting to be helped or saved.
If you are local to the Raleigh area, we'd love to have you drop by one of our gatherings at Connections. Or maybe you already have and we're one of the churches who have disappointed. =) If that's the case, we apologize.
Thanks again for taking the time to visit, read and comment on this blog. You've made the conversation richer- not only for the couple of us who commented- but for the lurkers as well.
If you'd like to chat privately, I can be readched at: fred.turner@connectionschurch.ws.
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