Kingdom Relationships
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1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
C.S. Lewis once said, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” They usually pop up out of no where and form when we least expect them to. One friendship that shocked the world is between Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.
Jackie Robinson was the first black to play major league baseball. Breaking baseball's color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error. The fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered. Then, shortstop Pee Wee Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet.
Relationships look different. For instance, my wife has a really hard time understanding guy relationships, she doesn’t understand how we can insult each other and still be such good friends. I simply tell her that you can tell if guys really like one another by how comfortable they are picking around with each other. But all relationships are different. And everyone knows that relationships are important.
As kingdom citizens, we want to view the world as God wants us to view the world. So, that means we need to recognize the emphasis that He puts on community throughout His word. So, as we consider what He has to say concerning this matter, I want you to mark down first.
If we want to have a godly view of community, we need to understand that:
We were created for community
We were created for community
In Genesis 2 everything looks perfect. God has created the world, He placed Adam in the Garden, gave Him work to do and rules to follow but in the midst of this, God says, in Genesis 2:18 “18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.””
What we find immediately in the nature of humanity is an deeply rooted need for community. We are made to long for community.
Now, some of us are introverted, and some are more extroverted meaning that some of you really feel refreshed by being alone and being around people tires you out meanwhile some of you really love being around people. There is not right or wrong here, you’re not in sin for resting while being alone. The problem however, is living in isolation. We need community, we need people to share our burdens with, we need people to love us, we need buddies to go fishing or hiking with. It’s community that we all need.
The problem, however, is that some of us have been hurt in our relationships. This leads us to point two which is that if I am going to have a godly view of community, I need to understand that:
Sin complicates community
Sin complicates community
Maybe you’ve had a good friend stab you in the back. Maybe you’ve accidentally insulted a friend and hurt your relationship without meaning to. Maybe you’ve found that people are simply looking after their own interest and you’re not interested in getting hurt again. Whatever the case may be, we need to understand that the issue of sin complicates relationships seriously.
In the Garden, everything had been perfect and we got a chance to witness the most beautiful friendship ever but when they sinned, their relationship faced serious problems. In Genesis 3:16 God tells Eve, “...Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.””
What this means is that their relationship is going to face serious turmoil. She will want to deceive him and break him down and he will in turn dominate her. The most beautiful relationship is now seen full of problems. And this isn’t the only place we see this, is it? In Genesis 4, we see a man kill his own brother and in the New Testament we see relational issues as Paul rebukes Peter and later on we see that Paul and Barnabas had issues because Barnabas wanted John Mark to travel with them but Paul was against it because John Mark abandoned them on a previous missionary journey.
So, what we need to understand here is that no relationship is free from problems because we are all sinful people. But we don’t have to merely accept that and leave it there. What we need to know to have a godly view of relationship is that:
We have been recreated for community
We have been recreated for community
In Genesis 11, the tower of Babel falls and there is division throughout the world, but in Acts 2 at Pentecost, God sends His Spirit upon the Church and reverses the division of Babel as He unites a kingdom of people together in Christ. What we find as we read the Bible is that God places a high priority on Christian community. One writer said, Jesus promises that he is especially present whenever believers come together in his name (Matt 18:20). Christian unity is a major theme of Paul’s writings as he consistently calls believers to work, live, and worship together (see Rom 12:3–8; Phil 1:27–30; and Col 3:13 just to name a few). For Christians, participating in community is done in obedience to the story and commands of Scripture.
So, as we have seen the last few weeks, because God has changed our hearts and minds we are equipped to see things differently. No longer are we to view people as a way to get what we want or to satisfy ourselves. Rather, we now know that we belong to the Church which means that we belong to one another that we can bless others.
We are to bear one another’s burdens, we are to fight against our sins together, we are to do life on mission together. And because we know that we are created for this and that sin is still unfortunately present, we are able to approach our relationships with grace knowing that just as God has made us right with Him even though we have sinned against Him, His gospel also encourages us to forgive those who wrong us because we have been forgiven of so much.
Biblical Wisdom for Community
Biblical Wisdom for Community
My understanding of my identity in Christ equips me to pour into others.
My understanding of my identity in Christ equips me to pour into others.
We live in a culture that is often obsessed with self image or hindered with reservations about ourselves. However, as Christians, all we have is in Christ. This equips us to take our eyes off of ourselves and to view our lives as vessels that God can use to pour into others.
Community Takes Commitment
Community Takes Commitment
“For community relationships to be healthy, they need to involve groups that allow us to be honest about who we are and encourage us to grow into the people God has created us to be. The best environment for this type of community is the local church” (Grubbs, Kingdom, 104).
“In order to benefit from a healthy community, you need to dive headfirst into a healthy community” (Idib.)