A Picture of Growing in Christ, Part 5 - We Are Members One of Another
March 3, 2022 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
In this series, I have been painting a picture of what a healthy, growing Christian looks like. At the center of spiritual health is the commitment to the ordinary means of grace offered in the weekly worship of the church. This habit is supplemented by personal commitments to the Word, prayer, and body fellowship throughout the week. I want to focus on this commitment to body fellowship today. Our relationship with the church, the body of Christ, is a vital component to being a healthy, growing Christian.
When I think of the church community, and the responsibilities and needs of individual followers of Christ, two Scripture passages always stand out as the most influential. Of course there are many passages that speak to the nature and responsibilities of the Christian community, but these two, in my estimation, lay the essential groundwork. They are Romans 12, which speaks about our interconnectedness as believers, and Hebrews 3, which speaks about our need for the community to persevere in faith. Let’s look at these in turn.
Romans 12 paints a picture that Christians are interconnected to one another. This chapter is known for the transition from theology to practical application in Paul’s letter to the Roman church. It is in view of the mercies (12:1) and grace (12:3) of God that we live differently. Paul’s attention is on the body. He says, “We are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (v. 5). This awkward phrase, “members one of another,” is a significant descriptor of Christians. In Christ, God has knit believers together in a unique relationship. We are interconnected because of our faith in Christ. In the rest of the chapter, Paul fleshes out what this interconnected relationship looks like. We serve one another with our gifts (v. 6), we love one another with brotherly affection (v. 10), we contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality (v. 13), we rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (v. 15), and we live in harmony with one another (v. 16).
Hebrews 3 paints the picture that we need other Christians in order to persevere in our faith. The dire warning is sounded in verse 12: “Take care, brothers and sisters, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart…” The writer of Hebrews sounds this warning for a church community because of the danger of being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (v. 13). Healthy Christians take sin seriously and understand that daily vigilance is necessary. True, saving faith will fight sin and hold onto confidence in Christ until the end (v. 14). This is the biblical doctrine of perseverance. The writer of Hebrews tells us how to persevere in our faith. He says in verse 13, “Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today.’” We need one another. There is no Christian strong enough to persevere against the deceitfulness of sin independently of other believers. As John Piper has said in a sermon on this passage, “Perseverance is a community project.”
These brief, thumbnail sketches from Romans 12 and Hebrews 3 illustrate that healthy, growing Christians are committed to body fellowship. This involves interconnected relationships where one knows and is known. This also involves brotherly and sisterly vigilance against the deceitfulness of sin in our lives. Let’s press on together towards health.
