The Necessity of Christian Community
By Rev. Matt Kuiken “ N
o man is an island. Entire of itself,” wrote the poet John Donne. These words ring true for all of us. We were made for relationships and hu- man community. We may try to do without it for a season, but the need for human contact always prevails in our lives. Therefore, it is a tremen- dous blessing that when God saves us, He makes us a part of a community. He adopts us as our Father, but also gives us a family to belong to-His fam- ily. Through a study of I Peter, God has re-awakened me to the importance of Christian community. Life in Christ means life together with other Christians. My salvation is not about Me, it is about Him, and then about us. God saves complete his saving work so that we might live forever - in community. There- As Peter explains it, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a to God through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5). A stone disconnected from all of the other stones is not part of the house. Therefore, if we are connected with Christ by faith, we must seek connection with other believers in community. Why? Christian community is necessary for our spiritual roots. The writer to the
Hebrews says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another in love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as in the habit of some, but encouraging one another, all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Christian commu- nity is for the sake of our encouragement and growth in the faith. It also gives us an opportunity to obey the Lord’s command to love and serve one another. It is in community that our spiritual roots are tested and strengthened. And Christian community is necessary for another aspect of our lives that we don’t often think of.
Christian community is necessary for our spiritual reach. Christian mission
requires Christian community. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. uses a powerful illustration to describe the importance of Christian com- munity for our spiritual reach. “There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period that early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinions; it was the thermostat that transformed the mores of society.” This is a profound illustration that King uses. When the church is unfaithful to its divine when the church is living in faithful Christian community, it is a powerful catalyst
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for kingdom advancement and cultur- al renewal that an isolated belief is not capable of. The church is not meant to mirror the world in its principles or practices. It is meant to provide a window into God’s truth and grace at work in the world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must continue this focus on banding together to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must also continue to rec- ognize the incredible ministry poten- tial we have as we live and work to- gether. There is great kingdom work around us that God has uniquely placed us to do. But this will only happen if we all get on board and fully commit to God’s work in God’s way in God’s time. Martin Luther King Jr. concludes his letter with prophetic in- sight, observing, “If the church of to- spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an ir- relevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I hope the church as a whole will meet the chal- lenge of this decisive hour.” May God give us the grace to meet the challenge and be the church that He called us to be!
Rev. Matt Kuiken is the pastor of First ARP Church in Gastonia, NC.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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