The only chance to have success in our daily battle is to build a solid foundation. The only way to establish a foundation is to dig. Ask any builder — the taller the building, the deeper the workers have to go to dig the foundation.
A believer’s foundation is his root system, and God has made a way for us to deepen our roots through the practice of spiritual disciplines. The Bible stresses the necessity of worship, prayer, and study of Scripture. Those are the Big Three essentials in growing as a believer. If we want to grow, we will embed these disciplines into our spiritual DNA.
A fourth discipline is often overlooked. While it may not immediately come to mind as a discipline, an argument can be made that Jesus elevated it to be among his top priorities.
Community.
When I say community, I mean sharing life with other followers of Christ. Of all the Bible’s descriptions of the church, perhaps none is more appropriate than “the body of Christ.” Nothing better describes the church’s nature and mission. If we’re the body of Christ, then by nature we are a collection of individual parts grouped into a purposed whole. Time after time in God’s Word, Jesus and the apostle John admonish believers to love each other. Check out John 13:34 – 35; 15:12, 17; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11 – 12; and 2 John 5. In fact, Jesus said people will know who we are — that we actually belong to God and Jesus belongs to God the Father — by how we love (how we treat) each other (John 13:34 – 35; 17:20 – 21).
Community is more than connecting with your friends and attending a worship service; it’s part of digging in your roots. If you’re only a roots person, full of knowledge without any reach, you’re useless. At the same time, if you dig in alone, not only are you useless as a reach person; you also don’t have a good picture of God. God is community. Even in his essence, he is three Persons in one — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — and they’re always together.
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and told him that his fellow Pharisees had been talking about him. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).
I love how Jesus countered that statement. “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony” (John 3:11, emphasis added).
Nicodemus tells Jesus “we know” about you. Jesus answers with an authoritative “we know” about you. He is speaking of the triune God — the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus himself.
In John 5:19, Jesus says he can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing. He talks about sending the Helper, the Holy Spirit, in John 16:7 – 11. God is all about community.
By its very nature, the church is community (root word: commune). The collective whole — such as your youth group or small group — is greater than the individual parts, but the individual parts are essential to the whole. God gave us spiritual gifts to complement each other (1 Corinthians 12), and your age doesn’t matter. If we were meant to be Lone Rangers, God would have given us all the same gifts and passions.
Instead, one girl is creative and another is organized. One guy speaks prophecy and another supplies mercy. So when we come together, we work together. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” This suggests the concept that we shine brightest when we serve in community. It takes more than one person to make a bright city that cannot be hidden.
We are created for the express purpose of glorifying God by knowing him and making him known, and we come together under the Head — a connected body with arms, feet, hands, elbows, and armpits. (Unfortunately, I’ve known a lot of armpits in my day, but most of the time it’s all good.)
Please don’t skim over the verses about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 in mechanical get-me-to-something-that-changes-my-life fashion. These verses will change our lives if we truly believe them. They are among Scripture’s strongest argument for participating in regular gatherings with other Christians.
We either believe we are a small but essential part of the body of Christ or we don’t. We either believe Jesus meant it when he called us to community or we don’t.
Every time somebody tells you to go to church, they spit out some version of Hebrews 10:25, which says to not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. That’s a good verse, but I hope we don’t need a directive. If God calls his church the body of Christ, what other encouragement do we need to get together and stay together?
Jesus is God himself, and during his time on earth he didn’t do ministry alone. He started the church by discipling a group of men. Similarly, we forfeit a significant part of our growth when we do not join with other believers.
Disclaimer: I know special circumstances can prevent people such as those with chronic illnesses or no transportation from gathering with fellow believers. God knows who you are and can grow you right where you are. He also knows your heart and whether you would gather with other believers if you could.
Why is community so important? Because one of the primary ways God ministers to us is through other believers. When Jesus was crucified, the disciples huddled in fear of the authorities. On the surface, it’s easy to judge them in their weakness, even though every one of us would have trembled right there with them. But what is apparent in this picture is beautiful fellowship and community because of the trial they were enduring as a body. Fellowship is not pizza and Coke after church; it’s the certainty that we’re in something together and that our common faith will keep us going.
About four hundred teenagers are involved in our student ministry at Eagle’s Landing, and one guy cannot lead that many people the right way. You can’t lead through position. You have to lead through relationship. So I have fifty of the most amazing volunteers you’ll ever meet. They volunteer their time to love on students, and not just on Sundays and Wednesdays. Youth ministry doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t stop at the doors of the church. It means texts in the middle of the night. It means phone calls on the weekend. It sometimes means getting in your car and picking someone up when they need a lift in more ways than one. These volunteers are gold. But they aren’t the only ones creating community. Our students see these examples and then step up to care for their peers or younger kids. It’s the nature of community.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is nicknamed the Book of Joy, even though he wrote it from prison. He tells God’s holy people in Philippi, “You’ve been partners with me in the gospel from the first day until now. You’ve stuck with it and you’ve stuck with me.” It honors God when we do something bigger than ourselves and need each other to do it. That won’t just happen in a circle on Sunday morning. It’s going to start there, but we need other believers to do life with us and undergird us through the hard stuff.
God talks to us all the time. He is called Wonderful Counselor for a reason. He doesn’t just speak through hundred-year-old theology books. He’ll also speak to you through other kids who will hit you between the eyes.
I recently attended a Student Leadership University conference in Orlando, where SLU vice president, Brent Crowe, talked about leading a teenage girl to Jesus. The girl wanted to tell him how she felt after she had surrendered to the Lord. He braced for some sappy emotionalism as he thought to himself, She doesn’t really have to tell me. I’ve done this a thousand times. But he also wanted to make sure she understood what God had done in her life. So he waited to listen. Then she opened her mouth.
“You know that soft drink commercial where the drink machine is standing there and all of a sudden this big zipper comes down? And when it unzips everything comes off and there’s a new soft drink machine there? That’s how I feel.”
Brent sat stunned. “Wow! That is perfect. That is exactly right.”
Age doesn’t matter . . .
Through the body, through community and being around Pauls and Timothys, you dig deep into your spiritual roots. Timothy devoted his life to Jesus Christ through the ministry of the apostle Paul. The New Testament outlines how Paul discipled Timothy and continued to encourage and instruct him even after Timothy became the pastor of the church at Ephesus.
We all need some Pauls in our lives. Pauls are people who challenge us and earn the right with their lives to talk to us. They’re further along spiritually than we are and have deeper roots than we do. Who are your Pauls?
We all need Timothys too. We need to pour into others. You’ll be amazed what you learn from your Timothys. They bring a fresh perspective. They often regurgitate uncomfortable reminders like, “You said God can do anything, right?”
Just as God will use you as a Paul in someone’s life, he’ll also use your Timothys to help keep you focused on him and vibrant in ministry. One feeds off the other. One helps the other. Both love each other. All of it glorifies Jesus.
That’s community.
Point to Remember
Like Bible study, prayer, and worship, community is a discipline.