I have said it many times, but it needs to be said all the more. Our faith in Jesus is not individualistic. Yes, we are a single soul that was saved by the single death of Jesus. But after that single moment, everything else about our relationship with Jesus is community. We were reconciled through Jesus into a relationship with Jesus and also His Father and the Holy Spirit. When we were saved we were also reconciled into a faith community with other people who all have a relationship with the Trinity. The Bible, God's Word to His children, was written to a community, every time. In fact, even the process of disciple-making and discipleship is a community event where we are connected with others all walking towards Jesus and reaching the lost. So understanding that our faith is community bound means that we will need a variety of people in our lives. Let me explain the different types and kinds of people we need in our Christian life of community by illustrating it though the names in the title.
Paul-Every single person that claims faith in Jesus needs a mature believer in their life. Sometimes we can call them mentors, other times we can call them our elders. But in order to walk the life of faith, we all need someone who has walked longer with Jesus, knows the Scriptures better than we do, and has experienced more of the life of a disciple than we have. This person can impart wisdom, challenge us in our sin, and instruct us in the way of faith. Without a person like this, without a Paul, we will become prideful, arrogant, and begin to think we know it all when it comes to faith. For me this is men like Pastor Rich Hurlbert and other mentors in my life.
Barnabas- This man was an encouragement and risk taker for the kingdom. And every Christian needs someone that can come along beside them and encourage them in a job well done. They also need someone who will at times take a risk for them and be willing to step out in faith with them. Without this type of person in our Christian life, we will become depressed easier, discouraged more, and be less effective in the work of the kingdom. For me this has been my best friend, Seth.
Silas-This is the type of a person who does the hard work of ministry with us. This is the person who willingly gets their hands dirty, partnering with us in the work of the kingdom and the spread of the Gospel. Like I said in the beginning, our faith is community. So not having this type of person in our lives either means we are not in community with other believers or else we are in a very poor church body. Without this person, we will become burned out easily and accomplish far less for God. For me this is my fellow Elders in the church I Pastor.
Luke-This type of person cares for our soul. In a metaphorical sense this is a person who doctors our spiritual heart beat. This type of person knows us well becasue they spend time with us. They know when we are weak and when we are strong. They can see a sickness crop up in us and can give us the proper medicine when we need to get healthy. This type of person is our spiritual doctor. Without this type of person in our life, we can fall victim to our own flesh and sin way to much. And without this person in our life we can walk off the deep end of the faith real quick. For me, this person has been and will always be my wife.
Timothy-Not only do we need someone pouring their lives into us, but we also need to be pouring our lives into someone else. As a great man once said, "Every person needs a mentor and every person needs to mentor someone else". To be a disciple is to make a disciple. That means we all need someone in our lives that we are helping grow and mature in their faith and maybe even someone who we are leading into the faith of Jesus. Without this type of person, our faith comes into serious question. Without these people in our lives, we must ask if we are truly a disciple to begin with. For me this has been a variety of people in my life and currently is a young man in our youth group at church.
Do you have these 5 types of people in your life? If yes, thank God for His good gift. If no, then find them today and get your faith back in full community.
No comments:
Post a Comment