Have you ever shared a vacation house with your extended family? At the beginning of the week, the prospect of relaxing for seven days with your loved ones seems like a dream. Yet somehow, after daily digs from your siblings, tripping over other people’s shoes, and hearing your uncle tell the same story for the twentieth time in three days, that large rental house begins to feel amazingly small. Heading home to be in your own space now becomes the new dream.
Week-long vacations highlight how spending time with family is not always as ideal as we hope. Relationships are messy, and many of us like to avoid mess when possible.
For Christ followers, the concept of family expands beyond those who share our same bloodline. We now have a spiritual family: all who claim the blood of Jesus. And with this expansion of family comes more opportunity for sibling rivalry and “shoes” to trip over. Yet, rather than avoiding mess, Jesus calls us to something more.
What is this “more?” It is community lived out in the name of Jesus.
The New Testament places a lot of emphasis on this Christian community. In fact, there are over fifty commands to say, do, or feel something to “one another” in the family of Christ. Affectionately called the one-anothers, these commands teach us how to live and value our spiritual family in a manner worthy of Jesus.
To live out these one-anothers, we must spend time together. Like the vacation with extended family revealing relational difficulties, the potency of these commands is revealed when we rub shoulders with each other long enough to recognize our need for them. Sharing the same physical space for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning is very different than living life with our spiritual brothers and sisters throughout the week.
In my neighborhood, my daughter has two good friends, and I am good friends with their moms. Like me, these moms love Jesus, and it is wonderful having friendships with other believers with whom I get to interact regularly. As nice as this is, however, nothing has tested our ability to live out the one-anothers more than helping our daughters through some relationship struggles. In situations like these, commands such as “build up one another,” “bear one another’s burdens,” and “encourage one another” come to life. These one-anothers are shaping us, allowing us to learn how to pattern our lives and our community after Jesus. They are growing us as a family.
Of course, it is impossible to have deep relationships with every member of our spiritual family. To truly experience the importance and beauty of the one-anothers, we all need to be with other believers more than one morning a week. Only in community can these one-anothers reveal what it is like to live together in one Kingdom under the reign of the one, true King.
Beyond our own benefit, Jesus shares why Christ-like community matters. John 13:34-35 says,
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
As followers of Jesus, we love each other and express this love through the various one-another commands. We are told that everyone will know that we belong to him. The way we relate to each other is meant to be an invitation for others to join our familial fold.
Yes, relationships are often messy, especially with family. Yet, through the one-anothers, Jesus shows us how to navigate the mess rather than avoid it. We may not be a perfect family, but when we pattern our lives after Jesus, others will see that ours is a good family to be a part of.
Perhaps you are looking to deepen relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Now is a great time to strengthen those family bonds. Bridgeway Life Groups provide a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
Lord, thank you for wanting us to experience joy and wholeness not only in our relationship with you but also in our relationships with each other. Infuse us with your love as we seek to deepen and strengthen this family that is bonded together in and through you.
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