Doing Life Together

In the authentic church believers share and experience life, IN Christ, together.  The Bible uses the word koinonia which refers to which refers to concepts such as fellowship, joint participation, partnership, the share which one has in anything, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution. 

J. R. R. Tolkien titled his famous book The Fellowship of the Ring.  Among MANY other items of symbolism, it described the joint participation, partnership, and contribution of those involved in the single purpose of accomplishing the mission of the fellowship.  

Serving IN Christ

An authentic church serves one another in a way that reflects Christ.  We are to minister to one another and alongside of one another. 

We are called to serve in love in a way that reflects Christ to one another, and as we serve those outside of the church, in ways that puts the love of Christ on display for those who are not aware of the mission of the Messiah.

We see in Ephesians 4: 1-7 and 11-16 that Paul was still troubled about the possibility of false or erroneous teachers misleading the church.  Sometimes these can be as overtly evil as the Dallas area “pastor” who recently unlawfully sold THREE church properties for his own personal profit WITHOUT the church’s knowledge, receiving 35 years in prison for it. 

Sometimes it is less obvious such as the case of espousing and promoting non-biblical attitudes and actions.  Sometimes it is not obvious at all, such as attitudes that sneak up on us such as superiority: “we don’t let THOSE kinds of people into OUR church.”  

ALL of these are examples of false teaching because there is error in their attitudes and actions.  For that matter, have you ever stopped to consider that we ALL are, or have been, false teachers at one time or another?  THAT’S a scary thought.  

Worshiping God

Worship is something we should engage in every day. Authentic churches are about worshiping God. Through worship we gain a focus on God—which in turn gives us the proper perspective on everything else.  When we worship God we experience God’s presence. When our hearts yearn to feel God’s presence; when our hearts AND our heads long for more of God’s truth and wisdom; when we are connected to God, much as our electronic devices require wireless or wired connectivity, we can experience worship, or experience the value of God.  Without being connected to God, our life essence is wasted on useless things.

While personal worship is important, it is also necessary to gather together to worship alongside other believers – to practice our beliefs with like-minded people.  As we gather with others in authentic worship, our prayers, singing, and reading of Scripture provide mutual encouragement to all of us.  God is honored, and we are strengthened together.

Growing IN Christ

We have looked at what we are instructed to do regarding sharing Christ, now we look at growing in Christ.  

We are to help one another grow in Christ.  All too often we celebrate when someone professes their faith in Christ, but also all to often we just stop there.  “You have made your choice?  Oh GOODY!  Keep going and growing, see ya later.”  This is the same as telling your preschool aged child “you’re ready to go to school?  Oh GOODY!  Well go get an education, see ya later.”  

The point is that it is up to those with greater knowledge and wisdom to share with those with less knowledge and wisdom.  We have an equally important responsibility to help those new in faith to become students of that faith and to become more vital, more mature, and more capable in that faith.  Most of us are spending some amount of time on growing in our own faith, he also have the privilege of helping others grow in their faith.