Christians Shouldn't Be All Alone

It is not uncommon for me to see someone post a picture of themselves on social media in a beautiful outdoor setting on a Sunday with a caption that reads something like, “Worshipping outside today!” I know of several faithful Christian brethren who could say something like that and genuinely mean it; I know they would have made sure to construct their weekend getaway around a group of Christians with whom they would have had a dedicated period of worship prior to making such a post. For some though, I know that they haven’t really done anything more than spend some time outdoors. If I were to ask what their worship consisted of, I might not get much of an answer in return.

This illustration is a small-scale picture of a larger trend taking place in the religious world. This trend has seen people allow the individualism that so characterizes the western world to begin to shape their perceptions of what it is to be a Christian and worship God. “Give me Christ, not the church,” is the rallying cry of this trend, as people seek to cultivate religion (a term many involved in the trend abhor) apart from a community of believers and entirely on their own terms.

It is easy to fall in love with Jesus simply by reading the Bible or in some other way hearing the Gospel story it presents. It is easy to go out into God’s creation and stand in awe of the awesome works of the Creator. However, knowing and being known by Jesus and giving proper honor to God consist of more than going on a hike and saying, “Wow, thanks God!” Creation certainly screams both that God is and that He is glorious (Psalm 19:1-6), but His perfect law that converts the soul (Psalm 19:7) guides us to something more than we can find amongst ourselves and/or our family alone.

The Bible says that to be a part of Jesus is to be a part of a unified body: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). While that one body is none other than the church of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23), the expectation of the teaching that surrounds that statement in 1 Corinthians 12 is that our membership in the broader body of Christ will be manifested in a local congregation of believers. The Corinthians were effectively saying to each other, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21), as they either exalted their particular role in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:15-16) or earnestly desired gifts, roles, and responsibilities to which they had not been appointed by God (1 Corinthians 12:28-31). Paul understood and even commended a “desire” for “the best gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31), but categorically denied that any Christian could function as God intended alone. “No, much rather,” he said, “those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary,” adding, “there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:22, 25).

The phrase “one another” is translated from the Greek word allēlōn. If you pronounce it, it sounds like “all alone,” which is somewhat ironic, given that the word is attached to literally dozens of commands that simply cannot be accomplished “all alone.” God places saved souls into a body and intends for the shaping, molding, and maturing of those souls to be carried out in the context of a local community of believers who will do things to and for “one another.” Christians are meant to give honor and show affection to “one another” (Romans 12:10), edify “one another” (Romans 14:19), take the Lord’s Supper with “one another” (1 Corinthians 11:33), “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), submit “to one another” (Ephesians 5:21), and in many other ways “abound in love to one another” (1 Thessalonians 3:12). The list of these allēlōn passages goes on and on, and not one of them can be carried out when someone turns his or her back on what the Hebrews author called “the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25).

Sometimes we may find ourselves in circumstances where there simply is not a body of believers with whom we can assemble. While this may be beyond our control at times, we should be wary about willingly embracing such situations, particularly on a regular basis. Those who willfully try to shape and mold their souls apart from other Christians will either pridefully exalt their abilities as Christians (“I have no need of you” – 1 Corinthians 12:21) or will find that Christianity was never intended by God to be something we do, if you will forgive the pun, all alone. Again, Paul said that to fulfil Christ’s law was to bear another’s burdens and to have your burdens be born by them (Galatians 6:2). This is by God’s design; Solomon said, “Two are better than one… For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.” He added this by way of warning: “But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

If you are blessed to find yourself amongst a local body of believers, give careful thought to the commands that God wants you to carry out amongst other Christians. “Examine yourselves,” not simply to see “whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5), but to see what unique role God gave you when He placed you in His son’s body, the church. That role will consist of talents that He desires you to willingly offer to your fellow Christians as well as deficiencies that He designed other Christians to help fill. “None of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself,” is not just a truth that demonstrates Jesus’ lordship (Romans 14:7-9), it is a standard by which all Christians must live.

Christians shouldn't choose to live all alone. 

-Patrick Swayne 
patrick@tftw.org