Our growth as Christians is not just about “how can I grow as an individual?” But it’s about “how can I help the community grow?”
We live in a time where the individual is being maximized with self-help, self-image, self-improvement, and personal growth. But we need to maximize the community and seek to edify the church. God wants his bride to be beautiful, and we should seek the beauty of God’s house more than the beauty of our own lives.
All of God’s building projects require materials that are fitted together. Noah’s ark was made of trees that had to be fit together, Moses’ tabernacle was made of planks that had to be fit together, and the temple in Jerusalem was made of stones that had to be fit together.
The individual parts needed to fit together in order for the structure to be built. The stones had to be shaped and their rough corners knocked off. The wood had to be cut, planed, and sanded so it would fit together.
We are the temple of the living God, and God is arranging us as living stones in his temple. We are the body of Christ, and he is fitting us together as body parts to comprise a glorious church.
In the Tabernacle of Moses, the curtains were joined together by clasps (Exodus 26:3-6). When these clasps were strong, the tabernacle was strong, but if the clasps were weak, the tabernacle would fall apart. So it is with the church. We need to learn how to maximize relationships with each other in the body of Christ and fit together so that we can become a glorious church that will fulfill God’s purpose. We need strong clasps that connect us rightly to other members in the body of Christ.
In the New Testament, there are many “one another” commands. These commands tell us how God wants us to relate to each other as Christians. When we keep these commands, we will maximize the community of the redeemed that God is creating on the earth. These commands are like the clasps in the tabernacle that connect us to each other so that we can become a habitation for God.
We need a Biblical church in order to properly keep these commands. Church is to be built according to the standard of the New Testament, not according to the traditions of men. Sadly, Biblical church is rare in these days, but if you desire to be part of a Biblical house church, God can raise one up in your area as you pray and connect with other believers.
Here are a few of these “clasps” that will connect us rightly to other believers.
1. Meet Regularly
Christians must meet together regularly. The “one another” commands in the NT presuppose that believers are meeting together, and these commands become meaningful within the context of meeting regularly. The NT says we should never stop meeting together (Hebrews 10:25).
People might stop meeting in church for various reasons. Maybe they get offended by something someone said or did. Maybe they got bored, because they thought they’ve heard it all before. They might stop meeting with a Biblical church because they might disagree with the apostolic teachings or think the NT teachings are too extreme. Maybe they stopped meeting because they believed false doctrine.
Let us keep meeting. And let’s meet together in Biblical churches, not in Babylonian churches that follow man-made religious traditions. If there is no Biblical house church where you live, pray and seek for this. Someday soon, there will be Biblical house churches all over the world.
2. Love One Another
Love is meaningful in relationships. Love becomes a reality when we interact with other people. One may have an idea of love until he is actually in close proximity with someone else, and then he will find out if his love was merely an idea or if it was a reality. After knowing a person, one will discover that it is harder to love that person than was initially thought, because then the other person’s flaws are more easily seen. Community in Christ makes demands that love be real, because real love involves real relationships. As Christians, we need both real love and real relationships.
3. Greet With a Holy Kiss
Christians are commanded to kiss each other with five different instructions in the New Testament (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14). We see an example of believers kissing each other in Acts 20:37. This is a holy kiss, not the kiss of sin or lust. Many cultures greet each other with kisses today, throughout Europe and in the Middle East. These might be air kisses, or slight pecks on the cheek. Kisses show affection, appreciation, and love. When we kiss other believers, we show that we love them. We are all brothers and sisters, and we love each other as family members. We are the body of Christ, and we are to be closely related to each other in affection. Of course, healthy boundaries may need to be maintained with this, so that the holy kiss does not become an unholy kiss.
4. Confess Sins to One Another
We all make mistakes, and our mistakes can hurt others. We may sin against each other, and when we do, we should quickly confess our sins to each other (James 5:16). Let’s humble ourselves in order to restore relationships. God wants relationships in his body to be healed, not broken.
When we sin, we need to confess our sins to God, and he will forgive us. But if we are struggling with a particularly strong sin, it can be helpful to confess that sin to a strong Christian, and that act of confession to another can help us get the victory over that sin.
5. Pray For Each Other
A community of Christians can help each other by praying for each other (James 5:16). Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for as we should, but the Holy Spirit will help us pray, and sometimes other people can help us by praying for us. Maybe a person is too tired to pray, and he needs others to lift up his hands. Sometimes a person in the community may have a blind spot, and then community members can pray for that area of need. There is power when believers agree together in prayer.
6. Forgive One Another
In community, we need to forgive each other (Ephesians 4:32). We will be sinned against in close relationships in the body of Christ, and if we can’t forgive each other, we will lose close relationships. This is sad. People will offend us, hurt us, and wound us by things they say and do, and we need to forgive them. We must not hold grudges, become bitter, or just start avoiding people so we don’t get hurt. We must forgive.
7. Be Kind to One Another
In honor, we are to prefer each other (Ephesians 4:32). We must be gracious, gentle, thoughtful, and generous. We should be polite and courteous to members of the body of Christ. Politeness and courtesy are signs of love. Sometimes we’re more polite to strangers than to people we are close to, and that is wrong.
8. Don’t Eat Each Other
The NT says we aren’t to bite or devour each other (Galatians 5:15). In close relationships, there is the potential for serious harm. People can fight with each other, be selfish, attack each other, or take from each other. People can be very mean to people they are close to, and this is a terrible sin. We must lay down our pride and humble ourselves with our friends. Although we see their flaws more easily than we can see the flaws of strangers, this is not an excuse to be mean. We are not called to become frustrated, but we are called to love because love will cover the multitude of sins.
9. Bear One Another’s Burdens
We are called to bear the burdens of other believers (Galatians 6:2), for Jesus bore our burdens. Someone may feel overwhelmed or discouraged, and we can encourage them if we are in community with them. Someone may need help, and we can work together to help each other and get things done.
10. Have Fellowship With Each Other
To have fellowship, we must walk in the light (1 John 1:7). Christian fellowship does not mean spending time together for any reason, such as hanging out at the bar or watching the Super Bowl. Fellowship means spending time together regarding the things of God. We need to have real fellowship and be honest and open with other Christians. We must flow together in the Holy Spirit.
There is a sea of clear glass before the throne of God (Revelation 4:6). We are called to be transparent with each other before God. Jesus said that what we hear in the ear will be shouted on the housetops, and what is done in secret will be revealed. This will happen in the Day of Judgment through the prophetic word of God. But the revelation of secret things can also potentially happen through the loss of privacy, the growth of AI, and potential information warfare. Browsing history, emails, messages, chat histories are all being recorded in data centers and may someday all be exposed. Let’s live in the light now, so that we can avoid problems in the future.
11. Exhort/Rebuke Each Other Daily
We need regular input from other Christians; not just once a week, but daily. This is a call for Christian community, in which daily exhortations can happen. We don’t need to run from rebuke, hide, or become defensive. If we’re wrong, we should repent and change. Iron sharpens iron.
12. Break Bread with One Another
In the early church, Christians met daily to break bread, and God is calling his people to recover this practice today. But since breaking bread can only happen in a church meeting, we need to meet with other believers daily in order to break bread. This may seem like a lot of meetings, but why not? Breaking bread is essential for spiritual health, and it will become increasingly necessary as we approach the end of the age.
Let’s maximize these “one another” commands in the Bible so that we have strong relationships with our fellow Christians. Only then will we be able to fulfill God’s plan, for the Christian life is not about maximizing the individual, it’s about maximizing the body of Christ. But these two goals (the growth of the individual and the growth of the church) are connected, for when the body of Christ reaches full stature, then the individual will be able to reach full maturity.
by Peter
