As the infamous Beetles' Song goes... "I get by with a little help from my friends!" It is funny how these words are so powerful and true except for the fact that we don't even realize it.
My whole life I have beat into thinking that my salvation comes from a relationship with Christ as a personal relationship between me and Jesus. How wrong is that, and how many people in this world do not understand it either? I know, that sounds ridiculous, and it is. Let me say that I do believe that being a Christian is about having a personal relationship with Christ--but we're forgetting about one of the most important dimensions of what it means to be a true Christian.
As many of us grow up in the Church we are told who we can and can't be friends with, and that we need to confine ourselves to a lonely life as a Christian because we are not to be "of the world." To many people this message sounds like a call to solitude, to confinement, to isolation from the world and the people who populate it. This is one of the biggest lies that Satan has ever had the pleasure to encourage.
I think the largest critique of my faith right now is the lack of people who understand the element of COMMUNITY and it's implications for how our faith is practiced. The word "community" is the buzz-word of theology, often called the "integrative motif," meaning that everything that we know and can study about God boils down to one thing: community (relationship). To illuminate my point: the relationship between God and his people is a communal relationship. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16). God loved the world, and as a member of the world that loves him back that means I am a part of that community that loves God. So why do so many Christians think that their relationship with God excludes their relationship with their neighbors?
One time at a lunch I told my friends that I don't think you can love God if you hate the people around you. They shot me down. One was a Pastor's Kid, and it was totally shocking to me that they disagreed with me, together. Here I am thinking that this makes common sense, but these two tried to explain to me that I was mistaken. Well, the truth is that I was not mistaken, but I didn't fight back because I knew it wasn't worth my time.
It's true though. How can you love God but hate hate people around you? I can understand thinking you love God, but if there is any hate in your heart, can you authentically claim to love God? First of all, God asks you to love everyone, even your enemies.
Sorry for going so far astray, what I really wanted to write was that I think we are missing out on a beautiful dimension of our relationship with Christ, and that is via our relationship with each other. I think that when we love each other, that love is the same love that we have for God, and in fact, I think that any love that is healthy and directed towards people in a way that does not promote idolatry could be considered an act of worship and reverence. God is love people, and how can that love be in our hearts if we fill it with hate? How can we experience that love if we are not in community with people who understand it and show it?
I get by with a little help form my friends. For me this is so true. I can't do anything without the love of my friends. Their encouragement, support, love, and affection keep me afloat, and I know this is because they have the love of Christ in their hearts. So I praise God for my friends, they really understand the grace and love of our wonderful Father.
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