COVID has really hampered our getting together. Whether you are talking about family traditions, hanging out with friends, seeing your favorite movie, gathering with your church…everything has been hampered by the almost 2-year pandemic which is ongoing. But we were headed to isolation before the virus ever showed up.
When air conditioning was invented, we moved from the front porch into the house. Then we added the attached garage and garage door opener so we never had to get out of our car before entering our house. Then we fenced the back yard so we didn’t have to look at our neighbors.
With technology coming on in the last two decades, we found new ways to isolate ourselves using voicemail on our cell phones so we didn’t have to answer the phone to ordering online and having groceries delivered to our door to social media where we connect virtually with our “friends”. But we are not created to live in isolation.
The first century church showed us how disciples of Jesus live life together. They realized they could not do life alone and literally hung out together all the time. Read Luke’s account in Acts 2:42-47 and you’ll see what it looked like. They ate together and were in each other’s homes. They went to the market together and to church together. They shared everything they owned and met every day to check on each other. That’s the kind of family we have been born into if you follow Jesus.
See, we live in a country that highly values independence. To be a follower of Jesus is to be the direct opposite of that. Following Jesus is recognizing you must be dependent on Jesus for your salvation and dependent on each other for family and support.
We are called to share the love of Jesus with others in our church and with committed people in community. The writer of Hebrews in chapter 10 calls us to “spur each other on to love and good works, not forsaking getting together to do that.” Being together is so powerful. Presence matters to worship together, to do life together.
And we gain power through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit but also by journeying together in small groups. Some of those are small Bible study groups or prayer groups that meet outside of the Sunday morning event. Some of those groups are even smaller groups of followers that hold each other accountable in our life choices.
So the challenge is to lean into how Jesus called us to live. Live out loud together. Make a commitment to be a part of spiritual family. Find others on the journey who will partner with you to study and pray. We’ll have to be purposeful and intentional. It won’t happen on it’s own. We are better together with Jesus in our life and each other in our company. Blessings on the journey.