“Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
-Hebrews 10.24-25
“Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him?”
-1 John 3.17
I was reminded recently by an excellent article written by Joseph Hellerman[1] that our church is just that – it is ours not mine. Do you ever notice that we will often say, “my church” instead of “our church” – worse still I suppose is “the church down the street”? Here at Heritage, we need to remind one another that we are one another! As the writer of Hebrews admonished in the verses above, “Let us consider one another!”
What does it mean to fulfill this command in Scripture? We consider one another by thinking carefully about and noticing one another. Our thinking is purposeful. We think carefully about one another “in order to stir up love and good works.” That means we are always thinking about those who attend Heritage and how we can love and work for them. But how can we do this if we forsake church attendance? How can we think about ways to love and care for people we don’t even know?!
All of us have something to give. All of us see brothers and sisters in need. How can we not have hearts that scream with compassion for such people? How can the love of God abide in such a person that lacks this compassion? Of course, it cannot. But one way we avoid the conviction compassion brings is to never get to know one another. We also do this by not getting involved in the lives of people. One of the deceptive ways we stay uninvolved is failing to go to church every opportunity we have each and every given week.
Let me say that unless providentially hindered, it is a great sin to regularly miss scheduled services at church. As Hellerman mentions, “People who stay grow. People who leave do not grow.” Below are some of my favorite excerpts from this article. Please read them prayerfully and thoughtfully.
We all know persons consumed with spiritual wanderlust. We
never get to know them well because they cannot seem to stay put. They move from church to church avoiding conflict or ever searching for a congregation that will better satisfy their felt needs. Like trees repeatedly transplanted from soil to soil, these spiritual nomads fail to put down roots, and they seldom experience lasting, fruitful growth in their Christian lives.
Despite what we know about spiritual growth, nearly all churches in America are characterized by an unwillingness of members to commit themselves deeply to their respective church. For some, it means church hopping; for most, it means keeping the church at arm’s length – that is, living as if the individual’s life is primary and that of the church is secondary.
…We are a radically individualistic society …more “me-centered” than any other culture …in world history. It is our individualism – our insistence that the rights and satisfaction of the individual must take priority over any group to which one belongs – that has seriously compromised our ability to stay in relationship and grow with one another as God intends.
…The faith is all about me – about God’s wonderful plan for me, about my spiritual gifts, about how God can meet my needs and save my marriage. Culture has hijacked Christ. We have recast the wondrous God of salvation history in the role of a divine therapist who aids the individual Christian in his or her personal
quest for spiritual fulfillment and self-discovery.
With such a meager commitment to the church, it’s little wonder that spiritual life in North America is so stunted.
…The group, not the individual, took priority in a believer’s life in the early church.
Hellerman concludes the article by offering a way to recapture the biblical priority of considering one another. He advocates a relational approach to Christian community rather than an institutional approach. Thankfully, most of us will be saying to ourselves at this point, “Well, of course!” But most churches out there are really struggling with this. The reason we do not is because of the faithful pastor that we’ve had teaching and preaching this very point for 30 years.
Once the relational approach is settled, we are in it for the long haul. We’re a family. We don’t desert one another; we consider one another! We don’t gossip and tear down one another; we consider one another! We don’t try to look good in front of others; we consider one another!
Hellerman believes that our commitment to one another “must remain a decision belonging to each member, not one imposed from above (he means by the church’s pastor or leadership).” Why? Because God wants each of us to see the needs and open our hearts of compassion – just like you’ve graciously done for so many and for me through my illness.
Think of our church as a family. If we were a cult or taught strange, false doctrine, then you would need to leave. But we’re not those things; we’re a family – brothers and sisters with a heavenly Father, a loving Savior, and a convincing Spirit. We cannot leave one church and attend another across town because of some slight or problem that develops. We must stay to grow through the adversity.
And people who stay help others to grow as well. But we had better prepare ourselves at the outset to make the choice to stay, again and again, in the face of cultural pressures – pressures often reinforced by the raging whirlpool of our emotions that are screaming for us to do otherwise.
[1] Joesph H. Hellerman, “A Family Affair: What would the church look like if it put we before me?,” Christianity Today May 2010: 43-46.
