A cord of three strands


The Christian life is a life lived in community. Obeying and loving God is about loving our neighbours, believers and non-believers alike. The greatest is commandment is to love God. How is this to be achieved in practice, given that God is non-corporeal? By loving our neighbours.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40

For this reason, while faith is often personal, the expression of faith in our works seldom is. You may have heard people say “I don’t believe in the organized church” or “my faith is between God and me”. But such an approach is often fallacious because it is difficult for faith to be demonstrated in vacuo.

The importance of living the Christian life in community is emphasized by God’s specific instructions. God commands us to love our fellow believers (Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Gal 6:10)). He also commands us to love whoever comes across our path (the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37)).

In relation to non-believers, one of the key reasons why we need to interact is so that the love of God might be spread abroad – that they might hear the good news and be rescued. If you knew that the ship you were on was sinking, wouldn’t you tell your family and friends on the same ship that there’s a lifeboat? Again, if you knew that there was a fantastic sale where your favourite things could be bought for half the price, wouldn’t you share the news with those you care about?

What about believers? I think there are three principal reasons for active interaction. The first is encouragement. This is seen in Hebrews 12:1 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who encourage us to run the race. So, we encourage others and in turn are encouraged by those who run before or alongside us. In other words, we discharge the twin responsibilities of (a) being a disciple; and (b) making other disciples.

The second is accountability. Those of us who work in relatively large corporations will be familiar with the concept of internal audit. Internal audit means the company voluntarily submits to checks on its processes, with a view to improvement. Voluntarily submission to such checks is evidence of how serious the company is about change. It’s easy for us to say, let me discharge my Christian obligations by myself – I don’t like to have someone looking over my shoulder. But we’re human. Hand on heart - how many of us are self-disciplined enough for this approach? An old Latin maxim says “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes”, meaning “who watches the watchmen?” Therefore CONFESS YOUR SINS TO EACH OTHER and PRAY FOR EACH OTHER so that you may be healed (James 5:16).

Even if you could surmount the problem of self-discipline, there is the danger of confusion. On our own, we are far more likely to develop personally tailored theology and individually specified ethics. We are all great deceivers, especially when it comes to our own consciences. Don’t believe that? God says so. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9. For these reasons, it is absolutely critical for Christians to check each other. Naturally, it’s not a perfect check since the checkers themselves are impure, but it’s better than no check!

The third is collaboration. We know that life’s mess is big. Given the big mess, our mission is, naturally, big. Some things just can’t be done alone. We need to be encouraged and to encourage. We need to be accountable to each other. And quite often, we just need more hands at the pump. Take for example, our planned volunteer service for Care Corner. Could just one of us do the job as effectively as ten of us? Clearly not.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

In today’s crowded world, privacy is at a premium. And there’s nothing wrong with having quiet time on our own. In fact, Jesus instructs us to reserve personal quiet time (But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matt 6:6)).

But always remember that the working out of our faith is always in community. On that note, I look forward to this Thursday’s discussion and the mighty works that our office community of believers will do for Jesus.

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