Leadership Thought: What We Learned About Fellowship in Our Life Group Last Night

Dear Friends,

"When two people connect, when their beings intersect as closely as two bodies during intercourse.  something is poured out of one. and into the other that has the power to heal the soul of its deepest wounds and restore it to health. The one who receives experiences the joy of being healed. The one who gives knows the even greater joy of being used to heal. Something good is in the heart of each of God's children that is more powerful than everything bad. It's there waiting to be released, and work its magic," So writes counselor Larry Crabb in the book Everyone's Normal Until You Get to Know Them, John Ortberg, p. 36.

Last night in our Life Group, we took the opportunity to discuss the importance of building community. or fellowship as it is called within the Christian community.

God has called us into community, and we can never be all that he has meant for us to be so long as we live apart from community.

An interesting study was done on the importance of community and health. The study revealed that those who have poor eating habits who are obese, who smoke and drink, but who have strong social relationships, can expect to live longer than those who live well, eat well, and who don't drink or smoke but who live in social isolation. 

Pastor John Ortberg humorously points out that this study just goes to show that it is better to eat twinkies and fellowship with others than eat broccoli by yourself.

We were fashioned for fellowship; created for community, born again to be a part of a body, the church. That was God's aim in creation when he said, "It is not good for man to be alone," and to complete him, He created community in creating woman.

I love that little verse tucked away in Acts 2 describing the community that the early disciples enjoyed.  

"And all the believers were together and had everything in common"(Acts 2:44) 

Do you want to know the results of such togetherness? The answer is seen in the tremendous growth of the early church as members loved and shared and cared for one another. There was no room in that church for the single solitary saint who wanted to tip toe through the tulips with a Jesus and me mentality. 

When the outside world looks through the stained-glass windows of the church and sees people loving each other- really loving each other, they will beat a path to the door of that church. Why? Because they share a 'longing for belonging.' They know that 'people who need people are the luckiest people alive, and they want to be a part of those people.

The  German theologian, Dietrick Bonhoeffer, martyred in World War 2 wrote "Whoever cannot stand being in the community should be aware of being alone."

There are significant and tragic consequences to living a life that is isolated from others.

When the people grew discouraged during the rebuilding of the walls surrounding Jerusalem, Nehemiah rallied his troops through the creation of community. He put families together and assigned them to do work at the same place on the wall. He also created a buddy system where one would work while the other would hold a sword or a spear. He knew by putting families together and by creating a buddy system, those involved would care for and look out for each other. And they did, and so that wall was built, and it was completed in 52 days because those people had a mind to work.

 

Friends there is a broken heart in every pew, classroom, office building, and home.

God calls us into community, not only for our own needs, but to help meet the needs of others. 

The apostle Paul writes, "Carry with one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

It may be another's burden today, but you can be sure that it won't be long before it's your burden tomorrow. 

And as we are reminded in Ecclesiastes, "Two are better than one... if one falls down, his friend can help him up. but pity the one who falls down and has no one to help him up" (Eccl. 2:9-10).

Don't walk through your life thinking that 'Jesus and me is enough." It's not. You can change and you must change. 

In a recent sermon, one of our pastors asked us, "Do you think God could propel you to change your self-centered plan that keeps you trying to live out your faith separated from others?"  And then he quickly reminded us that "If he saved us, He could certainly change us."

Paul writes, "We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us" (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

May those words be a constant reminder to each one of us that we are called to live out our faith and our lives with one another.

So today as we seek to do that, let's be intentional as we look for ways to build community, whether in our church, school, office or in our home for as one church leader reminds us, "One is too small a number to achieve greatness.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom