GALATIANS 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AS GOD INTENDS. Do we know how many “one another” passages are in the Bible? Fifty-nine. Yes, there is that many. I won’t list them all but the fact so many exist points us to one sure truth – Christianity is not a private and individualized experience. For God to give us fifty-nine “one another” commands, either implied or explicit, means He never intended us to live out our walk with Him alone. The Bible does not teach “Lone Ranger” Christianity or spiritual growth to be kept personal. Just the opposite. God expects, even demands, His people live out the walk of faith with Him together, not alone, but in a tight knit spiritual community of love. This is counter-cultural. The world around us promotes independence, individualism, and privatization. And the church is not immune from this anti-Biblical mindset. We may quickly determine if we are being swayed to this individualism in our spiritual lives by a little self-examination. Here it is . . . “Are we in spiritual relationships with other believers sharing our burdens, praying together, in the Word together, and that outside of an hour or so on Sunday” Even further . . . “Are we so close to other believers that we would not hesitate to contact them, night or day, with the confidence they would drop everything to minister to us in time of need?” And one more even further . . . “Are we developing spiritual relationships of intimacy where we are that brother or sister that other believers know they may run to in time of personal crisis?” I am afraid those types of relationships are not the norm in the church. Too often we are simply like ships in the night, passing each other on a Sunday morning, and never crossing paths till the following Sunday. Friends, that is not Biblical Christianity. It is religion which keeps us too private and not investing in one another. Albert Mohler has rightly identified how culture has negatively impacted the church in this area of privatizing Christianity. He writes, “One of the besetting sins of evangelicalism is our obsession with individualism. The first person singular pronoun reigns in our thinking. We tend to think individually about the truths of God’s Word only as they relate to me.”

So, if living out the Christian life in the context of community and togetherness is so important to the Lord, we do ourselves a service by asking ourselves, “Why?” The answer to that question is found in King Solomon’s wise words, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-11). Here are the answers and applications.

First, we need each to keep us accountable and walking the straight, narrow path – “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.” There are too many people who once professed to be a Christian but attempted to go at it alone, and are now spiritual casualties. We need each other. We need to hold each other spiritually accountable in love and truth. And if we are not investing in one another regularly, we will fail. Christians who think their walk with the Lord is to be kept personal, private, and individual, are self-deceived and on the path to spiritual defeat. We travel together. God intends it to be that way.

Next, we need others when our heart begins to grow cold to spiritual things – “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?”. We must keep close to those believers whose hearts are aflame by the love of Christ. Spiritual zeal is contagious. When we feel like we are drifting, our fellowship with one another will provide the proper “spiritual course change” in our lives to keep us from shipwrecking our lives. Try to be a “Lone Ranger” Christian and the devil has us right where he wants us. Defeat is certain. Strength in numbers applies in the Christian life.

God intends our walk with Him to be a community endeavor. May we honor Him by obeying His “one another” passages in the lives of other believers He has placed in our lives.

PRAYER: “Father, help me reach out and develop healthy, transparent spiritual relationships with Your people.”

QUOTE: “We are not church consumers or observers. We are called to be participants and investors in God’s church.”