Doing Life Together

Recently when visiting with a friend, he used the expression "doing life together".  We were discussing the difference in being connected with the Body of Christ versus floating on the periphery of it.  I know many believers who float from church to church never making the commitment to invest their time and talents into one specific group of believers.  I am not questioning when we are in a season of waiting on the Lord for specific instructions, but rather referencing the continuation of that limbo status when the time has long passed to make that commitment.  Once I was asked where I found the scriptural truths that indicate we need to be planted in a "church" of believers in order to see our gifts flourish and grow fostering a greater contribution to the kingdom and the harvest.   When I heard the expression in the title from our friend, it became crystal clear to me why we are to be committed to a single body of believers.

Have you ever been in that place in life in which you feel disconnected from everyone around you?  Can you identify with the feeling that you are not part of any group, just an outsider that "visits"?   I sent my life feeling as if I was not "part" of anything.  I can remember in my early childhood years yearning to be part of "that" group.  Even as a young adult in high school, it was an ongoing effort to be in as many organizations as I could manage hoping that in one of them, I would feel as if I belonged.  Later in life as a young married, I would see groups around me living life together, yet I never felt as if I was living life with anyone outside my immediate family.  It seemed as if everyone around me had someplace to go and someone with whom to do things except me.

When I accepted Christ and surrendered my life to Him, those things seemed much less important than they once did, yet the sense of still being an outsider lingered.  I chalked that up to being "in this world and not of this world".  It was OK with me that I was different because I understood why I was different.  However God had something more to teach me about this and that was the most precious gift that He gave me this Christmas.  

This Christmas was different in several aspects and those differences wove together to create a tapestry for me that illustrated what God wants from me in "doing life" with fellow believers.  Life is a process and if we are surrendered to the Lord, we are constantly moving forward in that process.  Since I surrendered my life to Him in 1989, I have belonged to several churches.  Each move brought me closer in my understanding of who He is and who I am in Him.  I know that each move was orchestrated by my Lord as I sought His desire each time.  I can now see that if I had not walked through the process I would not be matured to the place in which I function now.  Yet to not acknowledge that each place had its rocky paths would be lying to myself and everyone else.  I was growing and I was learning, but I had yet to feel truly connected to the Body.  I was not being fed through the body, but rather intravenously from the Source of Life Himself.

What is different about where I am today is simply that I am "doing life" with others in an intimate and complete way that I have never done before.  "Doing Life" together means more than ministering to the world together or worshipping together twice a week.  "Doing Life" means that we are covering one another, helping one another, encouraging one another, supporting one another.  This specifically is in reference to fellow believers; they are adopted as we are into God's family and hence are our brothers (and sisters).  Begin your study with the word brother in your concordance and focus on the New Testament readings that discuss how we treat our brothers.  For example, Romans 14:15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.  Question: If you are not walking connected to others (doing life together) how will anyone know what your lifestyle is?  If you are living in isolation then you are at a distance from other believers and your life and choices will not have any impact - positive or negative.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. The reverse of this statement is that we are to be industrious and encourage each other to do the same.  Once again, I pose the same question: If we are not doing life together, how will anyone know whether we are idle or not?  They won't.  The chosen isolation of being disconnected protects the exposure of our true nature.  However let's consider the very positive aspect of being connected.  We are the body of Christ which has many individual parts, all of which are required for a fully functional body.  Once we are connected, we understand what "part" we are and how we contribute to the whole.  1 Corinthians 12:12-14 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  Only when we are connected to the rest of the body can we understand what our gifts are, what our role is and indeed how we impact the rest of the body in its quest for the advancement of the Kingdom.

So back to my Christmas tapestry of 2010.  In my participation in the Christmas Outreach at our church, I realized that while I was not indispensable (after all amputees function without all of their parts), I was needed and useful. I also experienced the individual connection between fellow members outside of the church building as our brothers and sisters surprised us with spontaneous visits and touches of love.  I realized that these surprises had nothing to do with my performance or with their sense of obligation, but rather were simply acts of love.  God's love was shining through them and does so not just during this Christmas season, but throughout the whole year.  I am learning to receive as well as give.  As brothers (and sisters) in the body of Christ we are called to treat each other differently than the rest of the world.  This Body we belong to is the most inclusive, exclusive "club" in the world.  How cool is that???  Do you want to experience belonging?  Get connected with a local, real, grounded body of Christ and start doing life together.  You must connect in order to feel the powerful flow of the life giving blood and water of Life to flow through you.  Once the nourishment has started flowing, just watch your gifts grow and the fruit that will result will amaze you and delight God.  Happy New Year!  Make it the best one ever.  Get connected!

Competing in the Race

How many times have you heard Paul quoted from Philippians regarding the race that we are to run? Philippians 3:13-14  No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. If you are like me you have heard it more than you can count. It is certainly a scripture on which we ourselves will often reflect when life gets difficult.  But there are aspects to racing that we inadvertently include in our thought processes that are not necessarily correct in this instance.  Paul was speaking to an audience that "got" athleticism.  It had grown exponentially under Roman rule and the athletic games were all consuming especially in the pagan society.  People understood and even embraced the importance of image and being able to compete in the games that convened frequently.  Just as Jesus did when He was speaking to the crowds, Paul chose analogies with which they could easily identify.  Being a winner in Roman games brought accolades and fame.  However was this what Paul was trying to convey?

A recurrent theme throughout the writings of Paul is the importance of how we live our lives.   Take his advice to Timothy in 1Timothy 4:12 Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.  Paul was advocating individual responsibility for our lives.  We are to be examples in all that we do and say.  How about the advice to the church at Ephesus, Ephesians 5:15-17 So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.  So how does this relate back to the race? 

What do you visualize when you think of a race?  Competition is the first thing that comes to my mind.  Who  has to be overcome in order to win the prize?  How good are they?  What are their strengths and weaknesses?  What are mine as a competitor?  What happens if I lose?  (Big issue for me which is exactly why I hate to compete in anything!) Another thing that comes to mind is an all out effort.  You put everything on the line - all of your energy, all of your strength.  Whether it is a team race or an individual race, there is this attitude of pulling out all of the stops.  Sometimes this very perspective leads to disaster.  NASCAR racing comes to mind.  My sweet husband introduced me to this sport and laughs when I exclaim at the end, "They are just like a bunch of little boys waiting until the last minute to go to the bathroom and disaster strikes!"  There is inevitably a mass multiple car pile up at the end that does not include the winner.  There is a sense of desperation at the very end of the race.  Are any of these aspects what Paul was conveying to us?

Perhaps some aspects of a true athletic race are relevant.  One we must endure to the end of the race.  Quitting mid stream will not cut it.  Quitting leaves us vulnerable to the wiles of the adversary.  Enduring leaves him trying to catch up to us and eventually failing altogether.  Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. Think of the first time marathoner.  The only goal he/she has in mind is to complete the race.  Endurance is critical and the accomplishment in completing every mile of the race is the thought that enables perseverance.

We are first time marathoners in this race called Christian life.  We have one life to live and one race to run to the glory of Christ.  There will be countless distractions as we run this race but there is a huge crowd of witnesses watching us run.  Some will encourage us, provide refreshment along the way and aid us if we fall.  Others will be rooting for the adversary to succeed in tripping us up, in slowing us down, in getting us to quit the race.  These "hecklers in the crowd" do not want us to complete this race.  The last thing they want is for us to receive the prize of eternal life with our glorious Jehovah.  

There is another aspect to the marathon that is very relevant to our personal race.  Marathoners have a tendency to encourage each other along the way.  For the vast majority of them running the race and completing it is the goal, perhaps bettering their own personal time.  If being the first one to cross the finish line was the motivation there would not be thousands running in the major marathons every season.  Being a marathoner is an exclusive "club" to which many aspire to belong.  Once in the club, there is a mutual admiration from others who have succeeded because each individual knows the cost to belong. Isn't this a lot like being a Believer?

My brothers and sisters, we are in an exclusive club, but one whose membership is open to the world.   However, if the invitation is accepted then endurance is expected.  This is a tough race we are running.  The race course belongs to the adversary (remember we are not of this world, just in it).  He knows all of the turns in the road and especially the ones to which we are most vulnerable.  He watches and sees when our energy is depleted and when our vision is hindered; then he strikes.  We have the responsibility of encouraging each other, holding each other up when the going gets really tough and even picking each other up when one of us falls.  Falling in the race is not cause for terminating the race.  Failing to get up and push on however will make it very difficult to finish the race we have started.  You have to be up and moving forward to finish the race.  Let each of us examine our own lives and determine how to run it better, run it stronger and endure to the end!