“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”
1 Thessalonians 3:12
“Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays.”
Andrew Murray
There is an awesome need for Christians who can be interrupted. They have learned that their personal plans and agendas should be set aside for the acute need of the moment. People like that are becoming receptive people–people who have learned to submit their wills to the Lordship of Christ.
There seems to be a lot of believers who have isolated themselves in order to avoid ‘complications’ of the Spirit. Over the years they have cultivated a life without entanglements from others (at least, greatly reduced). The basic root of this is not sin, but it quickly slides into an isolation that is not just threatening, but dangerous.
We are built for fellowship. We need it— like my goldfish needs its water.
Our brothers and sisters need us, and we most definitely need them. In the Apostle’s Creed we read, ‘I believe in the Communion of the Saints’. This takes a supernatural faith. This dynamic of the Body calls us to fellowship with other believers, which is our desperate need of the moment. Deep within, we crave human contact. We need to touch someone else.
Being interruptible establishes several things. I think these questions are a simple starting point.
- First, I have become approachable and tractable?
- Second, is Jesus really Lord over my life? (Or do I have my ‘own thing’ going?)
- Third, do I really believe ‘something’ is going to happen when I begin to fellowship?
- Fourth, is it really worth it?
- Fifth, what is more important: People or my schedule?
Years ago I learned that every servant who really excelled had become a man or woman that could be interrupted. And they respond in grace and kindness to every issue that came. You’ll never hear them get frustrated or even irritable over being disturbed. They simply have surrounded themselves in the will of God, and are His servants.
What is more important: a schedule or people?
There are ‘skills’ we need to learn for Christian community. We have touched on some as we have matured. We have practiced with this holy concept, and caught glimpses, many which translate into our present spiritual lives.
“Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that they love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God’s people.”
Charles Spurgeon
God’s great quest is to make those who have been redeemed into a cohesive body. He takes a special delight in the harmony of His Church. He is very passionate about this. His proclivity to unity must be noted. We must adjust and do all that is necessary to make it happen. This dear one, is His will.
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Related articles
- Whose Example Do You Follow? (preacheroftruth.com)
- Thank God for the Communion of Saints (revivalandreformation.wordpress.com)
- Sisters (leaveyourbeautymark.com)
When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God—And Joy Publisher Crossway Books, Author John Piper, ISBN 1581348762 Price $7.99, Released, January 2007
Broken Believers 