Drunken Mystic

Yes, this does go to eleven.  Actually, twelve, so we’re almost done.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you.  By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

A defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ is that he will love other disciples as Christ loved him.

Pretty simple, but let me further expound a little.

There are some interesting implications in this, the first of which is that this is a determination the world will make about followers of Christ.  Looking at the Church today, the world could make several distinctions about us, but few would be able to say, as was said about the early church, “behold how they love one another.”  But if we want people to believe that we belong to Jesus, it has way less to do with a doctrinal statement, the name on the door, or a political affiliation as it does the love we have for one another.

And this leads us to the second implication, which is that no disciple can prove he is such by himself.  In other words, you can say you are a follower of Christ all day long, but if your life doesn’t testify to a loving, committed relationship to other disciples, you’re wasting your breath.

There is much of the Christian life that is individual.  But our modern society has so individualized religion that it has become an idol.  Yes, an idol.  We have raised up a standard of our own individualism to the detriment of the testimony of what really following Jesus is all about.

I once visited a church where a friend of mine was teaching Sunday School (he wanted me to come to his class, so he kinda asked for it).  The gist of his teaching in the class was that Christianity was an individual sport, like boxing or tennis.  I looked at him and said, “Then what are we doing here?”  The irony of the situation made everyone quiet enough that allowed me to launch into scriptures that obviously speak of a very different life.  And that was almost twenty years ago now.

In the interim, I’ve become even more convinced that the Bible testifies of a life more interdependent in fellowship with other disciples than independent and individual.  You may come to it as an individual, but you become a part of a new family where your individualism only goes so far.

A true disciple will commit his life to a local body of believers deeper than even his physical family could express.  This doesn’t mean you form cliques and fully isolate yourself from others, but then again at times you will.  Because it is good and  right to do so.

I am married and have three kids.  Sometimes we just do things as a family.  Sure I have extended family, to varying degrees of intimacy, but the living of day in and day out goes on with these individuals.

It is the same with the Church.  Yes, there is a universal reality to the Church that is biblical and no one could or should deny.  I have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world, and I thank God for things like Facebook and email and ways that I can stay in contact and some amount of fellowship with them.  At the same time, there is a clear testimony from scripture that there were individual churches, plural, and to deny the reality therein is to deny the responsibility of a local spiritual family that God has called us to commit our hearts and lives within.  Just as my primary physical and earthly responsibility is to my physical family, Becca and Micah and Elisha and Hosanna, my primary spiritual responsibility is to those who have decided to join and commit their spiritual journey to my own so we can take care of one another and grow deeper in relationship.

It is within this local body of believers first, and the Church at large in the world second, that we are meant to fulfill “love one another as I have loved you.”

Jesus spent an inordinate amount of time with these men, his twelve, over the three and a half years of his earthly ministry.  They lived life together, even to the point where the disciples said, “Well, let’s go die with Him.”

Their attachment to Jesus was such that Peter said, “Where can we go?  You have the words of life.”

The Word was made flesh then in Christ and is now made flesh in His Church by His Spirit.  There are some things of God you can only get from an intimate relationship with the Body of Christ because that is how God has designed it.  Without it, at the very least, you’re missing out on a major expression and truth of the kingdom of God.  At worst you might not be a disciple at all.

But my point here is that there is life in the Body of Christ.  There is a revelation of Christ that happens only when the saints of God gather together unto Him and one another.

“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down the beard of Aaron, running down the edge of his garments.  It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded blessing – life forevermore.”

For there – where brethren dwell in unity – the Lord has commanded blessing – LIFE FOREVERMORE.

Peace.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 2nd, 2010 at 9:43 am and is filed under Disciples and Believers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.