Individual-in-Community - Feb 20 6:02am LU Post
Many people in the world today seem to think they can tailor Christianity to whatever form makes them feel good about themselves and God will be okay with that. Some even feel that spirituality is a private and personal matter between themselves and God.[1] The first thing that God said is not good was for man to be alone; furthermore, God resolved that by creating an earthly helper for Adam (Gen. 2:18). These concepts of isolation are false teachings from a worldly perspective and I pray these people will have their eyes opened and God will wake them up. I am not saying that individual worship and time with God is not vital, but growth will better occur within God’s intended design, which includes interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, the false teachings available are vast, and human tendencies seem to be more often than not self-seeking. Not thinking of others, selfishness, and isolation negate the design God had in mind when he created us. These, along with acts of the flesh are signs of a believer's immaturity (Gal. 5:19-21) and are responsible for increasing the chasm between God and man.
According to Stephen and Mary Lowe, “We find in Paul’s descriptions of the spiritual ecology of the body of Christ similar to spiritual connections and interactions that provide the necessary spiritual nutrients for growth.”[2] Unfortunately, sin broke not only the perfect ecology in the garden but also the perfect relationship we had with God and with one another. Sin took away, “. . .all harmony, peace, and wholeness. . .” and replaced it with “. . .spiritual alienation (spiritual disconnection), divine hostility, and social fragmentation.”[3] If we choose to fight our battles with help from the members of the church body that we live and grow with, the “spiritual connections and interactions” we foster will make the relationships stronger and we are all more victorious because of it.[4]
Paul uses “syn” in many different forms to illustrate the importance of our connections to God and one another.[5] These connections keep us firmly interlock with God and fuel our desire to interconnect with others (Rom 8:37-39).[6] The course text suggests multifaceted environments to foster these reciprocal relationships:
These reciprocal interactions can occur in any environment where Christians gather together (synerchomai), whether in a sanctuary for preaching and worship, in a coffee shop for prayer and fellowship, or in an online classroom to study theology. An ecological vantage point offers us a wider field of application as to where and when these encounters take place.[7]
God is love (1 John 4:16), and believers are the vessel (1 Pet. 2:9); God’s love flows through us and into others which restores his original design. Regardless of the medium used to bring us together, we must remember nothing grows without God (John 15:5; 1 Cor. 3:7).
[1] Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E. Lowe, Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018), 187.
[2] Ibid., 138.
[3] Ibid., 139.
[4] Ibid., 138.
[5] Ibid., 139.
[6] Ibid., 139.
[7] Ibid., 141.
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