Lesson 14: Formed by Christian Community

Note to class leader: Review the main points from Lesson 13. Ask students who are willing to share their personal prayers from Lesson 13.

By the end of this lesson, the student should:

(1) Learn to treasure the church; the community of Christ.

(2) Understand how important this spiritual community is to our spiritual growth.

(3) Make a commitment to greater participation in the life of the church.

Hindered by Hypocrisy

Gracia, a Latino young lady, has been hurt by “hypocrites” in her church and has become somewhat cynical. She has a hard time trusting. She still attends a service once a week, but rarely connects with anyone apart from the weekly Sunday morning service. She feels that her own personal relationship with God is enough.

Hindered by Busyness

Evan, a businessman in Asia, attends a large worship service in his city, but believes he’s too busy to serve the church. He gives his tithes but nothing more. He hardly knows anyone in his congregation by name.

Hindered by Self-Sufficiency

Akachi is a sought-after evangelist in Africa who is always giving out but rarely receiving grace from the family of God. He’s becoming lonely and spiritually weak because he doesn’t give other Christians the chance to speak into his life.

Hindered by a Critical Spirit

Jim and Lisa are North Americans who have changed churches several times in the last decade. They still haven’t found one they are completely “comfortable” with, so they haven’t committed to any one congregation. They are quick to express their dislikes and “concerns” for each church they attend, but never volunteer for ministries and rarely connect with fellow believers in small group settings. They don’t know what they are missing!

Fully Engaged

New Testament Church Christians:

"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, praising God and having favor with all the people."[1]

Though all but the last snapshot are fictitious, they describe the attitude that many Christians have toward church. Around the world, there are a vast number of believers who are not connecting with other members of the body of Christ in deep, meaningful, and transformative ways.

► Why do you think so many Christians lack participation in the family of God? What part does laziness play? Or indifference? Or selfishness? Or fear? Why are Christians afraid to develop deep relationships with other Christians sometimes?

[1] Acts 2:46-47a

My burden for this lesson is that the Holy Spirit forms us into the image of Jesus Christ as we participate in Christian community. This truth is vital! It cannot be dismissed if we would mature spiritually. God’s purpose for every Christian church is to provide the acceptance, edification, accountability, and active ministry opportunities necessary for spiritual growth.

In this lesson, we will explore why participation in and commitment to the life of the church – through worship, service, fellowship, discipleship groups, prayer meetings, witnessing, etc. – is so vital. We will explore the power that participation in Christian community has to form us into the image of Jesus.

► Read Ephesians 4:11-13 and Romans 12:4-16 together. From these verses, what are some of the ways we serve one another as fellow believers? What is the final goal, according to Ephesians 4:13?

It’s important to understand that the goal of everything we do in love and service to one another (Romans 12) ought to be to edify each other so that, little by little, we each bear more and more the image of our perfect Savior (Ephesians 4). This truth, imbedded in our hearts, will add meaning to even the smallest acts.

What is the Church?

You and I were bought with the precious blood of Christ and baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s church – his body, his bride, his temple, his redeemed family! Together, we are the church! Church is not a building; the church is you! It is us. It is our husbands, wives, children, and friends. Let us not think of church simply as the place we go on Sundays or even just the people we meet there. All who are redeemed are part of God’s universal church; and connecting with one another, for the purpose of edification, is essential to spiritual maturity.

Why is participation in Christian community so important? Here are just some of the reasons.

We’ve been created in the image of the triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These persons of the Trinity have been in intimate, joyful fellowship for all eternity. We were created with this same capacity and need. We were created for fellowship. We were created for “one another.”[1] We were created for deep and meaningful spiritual relationships. When community is missing from our spiritual lives, we are weaker, more selfish, more vulnerable to sin, more vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy, lonelier, more broken, and more personally and spiritually deformed. Dr. Dennis Kinlaw writes, “A person does not realize this self-centered bent so long as he lives in isolation. One needs to live in community to realize the problems in his own soul.”[2]

Isolation is Satan’s strategy. He is portrayed in Scripture as a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”[3] Those who live in Africa know how lions hunt their prey. They run after a herd until one begins to fall behind, until the weakest of the herd becomes isolated from the protective shelter of the rest of the herd. Then, it’s only a matter of time before the lion pounces and devours.

God determined from the foundation of the world to put people in small communities called families. Infants, children, young adults, and even middle-aged and senior adults need a family to belong to. Imagine an infant who is born but then abandoned by her mother. Since she cannot feed or warm herself, she will die! Imagine children and young people who do not enjoy the comfort, guidance, discipline, and instruction of their parents. They will suffer. Imagine elderly people who have no one to look after them. Their lives usually end very sadly.

No matter what season of life you are in, you need family. If you haven’t had a healthy earthly family, chances are you have struggled to become a spiritually, emotionally, and socially healthy Christian. But God has provided another family for you – the family of God!

The need for participation in community is expressed all through the New Testament Scriptures. They make it clear that we need each other – that we were not created to live independent lives. There are at least fifty-five “one another” references in the New Testament, testifying to the importance God has placed on spiritual community. Twenty of these fifty-five references command us to “love one another.” But there are many others:

• Have peace with one another (Mark 9:50).
• Wash one another’s feet (John 13:14).
• Love one another (John 13:34).  “Love one another” appears 20 of the 55 times!
• Be kindly affectionate to one another (Romans 12:10).
• Be of the same (humble) mind toward one another (Romans 12:16).
• Let us not judge one another (Romans 14:13).
• Receive one another (Romans 15:7).
• Admonish one another (Romans 15:14).
• Wait for one another (1 Corinthians 11:33).
• Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25).
• Serve one another (Galatians 5:13).
• Bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2).
• Be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32).
• Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19).
• Forgive one another (Colossians 3:13).
• Teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16).
• Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
• Edify one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
• Confess your trespasses to one another (James 5:16).
• Pray for one another (James 5:16).
• Have compassion for one another (1 Peter 3:8).
• Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9).
• Be submissive to one another (1 Peter 5:5).
• Have fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7).

Christianity is about family! We are to live interdependent, connected lives. We are to be so spiritually and emotionally connected with other Christians that when they weep, we weep, and when they rejoice, we rejoice.[4] When we see a brother or sister naked, destitute, and hungry, we do what we can to meet their needs.[5] According to James, this is what real Christianity is about.

[1] A phrase repeated over 50 times in the New Testament

[2] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (Wilmore: Francis Asbury Press, 1998), 65

[3] 1 Peter 5:8

[4] Romans 12:15

[5] James 2:15

Without a doubt, the reason so many don’t get involved with other believers ‒ in worship, in sharing needs, in eating meals together, in confessing sins, in spiritual fellowship and prayer ‒ is because they’ve never learned to value the church.

Jesus Is Building His Church

If you ask the average church member why Jesus suffered and died, they would answer, “To save me from my sins,” “So that I might have a personal relationship with him.” These responses are true, but not the whole truth. Jesus gave the whole truth in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The word “church” means a called-out community or assembly. Together we make up this church. Jesus came to call us out of the world and sin to make us one with God and with one another, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in me, and I in you; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”[1]

To say or act as though we don’t need the church – that we don’t need one another ‒ is to despise the plan of Jesus. To criticize your little piece of the global church (your local assembly) ‒ without praying, loving, and doing all that you can to heal it and beautify it ‒ is to trample on Jesus’ most precious possession and on the sacrifice he made for it!

The Church Is His Precious Bride

The church is called the “bride of Christ.” Together we are Christ’s bride, whom he has given his life for, “that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her (us) to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”[2] Be careful how you speak about Jesus’ bride! Any groom would get pretty angry to hear people saying hurtful things about his bride, mocking her blemishes, laughing at her impurities. How hurt and angry Jesus must feel when we professing Christians point out the faults and blemishes of his bride – a bride for whom he shed his precious blood ‒ but make excuses for why we cannot commit our time and resources to seeing her become more spiritually beautiful!

The Church Is a Family, Named after Christ

Paul says, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth gets its name.”[3] We must learn to love and treasure one another as family. And we must be careful how treat the family of Jesus!

The Church Is the Body of Christ, Made up of Many Different Gifts Interdependent on One Another[4]

We must increase our appreciation for the diversity of gifts God has given us, rather than tearing each other apart. We must not despise Christ’s body, but make sacrifices to bring one another to maturity![5]

The Church Is a Temple, Indwelt by the Holy Spirit[6] and Being Built by Jesus Out of Christians Called Living Stones

We are “being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”[7] As living stones in the spiritual sanctuary Jesus is building, we are interconnected, interdependent on one another. And we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”[8] This is more amazing and deep than we can comprehend!

So how can we separate from one another and go off in our own private corner with God? We can’t! We must get involved in the little portion of this building, invest ourselves in other “living stones,” so that we all might become a temple filled with the presence of God.

This understanding of the church has been one of the most transformative in my life. I graduated from Bible school in 1993 and three weeks later became the pastor of a small church. Early on I sometimes struggled to appreciate the value of the local church God had assigned to me, especially because it had its share of problems. But while driving through town one cold, snowy, wintery night in 1996, listening to a radio sermon by Dr. John MacArthur, I began to see the church in a way I never had. His message was entitled, “Why I Love the Church”; and as he taught, I began to fall in love with my church, too! I wept for joy because the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the awesome plan of God for the church. Here is just a small portion of John’s teaching:

"In the mystery of the Trinity, we see that there is a [wonderful] and eternal love between the members of the Trinity.... That love must find an expression. True love always seeks to give. And in demonstration of his perfect love for his Son, the Father made a pledge to the Son.... He promised the Son a redeemed people – justified, sanctified, and glorified. He promised to bring the redeemed ones to glory, that they might dwell in the very place where Father and Son have dwelt since before time began.... And this collective body of called-out ones – a people for his name (Acts 15:14) from every tribe and people and tongue and nation (Revelation 13:7) – would form a living temple for the Holy Spirit, becoming the very dwelling place of God….

"The full significance of God’s eternal purpose becomes clear as it is unfolded in the book of Revelation. There we get a glimpse into heaven, and what do you suppose the triumphant church is doing there? What occupies the glorified saints throughout eternity? They worship and glorify the Lamb, praising him – and even reigning with him (Revelation 22:3-5). The collective body is pictured as his bride, pure and spotless and clothed in fine linen (19:7-8). They dwell with him eternally where there is no night, no tears, no sorrow, and no pain (21:4). And they glorify and serve the Lamb forever. That is the fullness of God’s purpose; that is the reason the church is his gift to his Son."[9]

I realized that snowy night that by grace I have been made a part of something far more wonderful than I could possibly imagine! The bride of Christ is a love-gift from the Father to the Son! A conviction was born in my heart that no matter how damaged a local church might be, no matter how dry its preaching, no matter how poor its music, no matter how unfulfilling its fellowship, no matter how carnal its members, I should love her!

► How has this section caused you to think differently about the church?

[1] John 17:21

[2] Ephesians 5:26-27

[3] Ephesians 3:14-15

[4] 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

[5] Colossians 1:28-29

[6] 1 Corinthians 3:16

[7] 1 Peter 2:2

[8] 1 Peter 2:9

[9] John MacArthur, “Why I Love the Church.” Emphasis added.

Every time we read of the Holy Spirit being poured out in the New Testament, it happened when a group of disciples were assembled together, praying with united hearts. On the Day of Pentecost as the disciples “continued in one accord in prayer... they were all with one accord in one place.... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit....”[1] The Holy Spirit was poured out on a group, not just an individual. Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit fills individuals, as well; but there is something unique and wonderful that happens when like-minded believers come together in unity, love, and prayer.

Later, under great stress from persecution, as they “assembled together” and “prayed,” the whole building “was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”[2] If you want more of the Holy Spirit in desperate circumstances: pray, worship, and serve with other Christians.

In Desperate Times, We Need Christian Community

My family has had its share of desperate times and have often fled to the refuge of the body of Christ for encouragement, counsel, and strength. Through the cancer diagnosis of our newborn son, Jesse, and four years of treatment, we reached out to the body of Christ and learned how precious the family of God truly is. We were filled with the Spirit of grace through their prayers with us and their sharing in our family’s needs. As missionaries, experiencing times of loneliness, fear, sickness, and spiritual warfare, and the pain of a prodigal, we’ve been filled with the Spirit of peace, healing, victory, and deliverance through every crisis by our spiritual family. This lesson isn’t just good theology; it is practical truth for the challenges of life. There is special power poured out by the Holy Spirit when a church unites together.

Many Christians are weak and vulnerable because of their selfish desire for privacy!

► Why is it sometimes so hard for Christians to be transparent about their needs, their faults and spiritual failures, their burdens? How can we create a safer environment for one another to be honest?

Through the Holy Spirit, We Are Together Empowered to Be Christ’s Witnesses

Jesus said to his disciples together, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses.”[3] I think that when we read this, sometimes we only think of ourselves individually being empowered to witness; but Jesus was speaking to his church together. Together they would be his Spirit-filled witnesses.

There is a special outpouring upon believers to give witness to the gospel when they do it together. I’m thinking of a congregation in Mexico who through much planning, praying, and giving, go out into pagan communities around their town to share the gospel and serve the poor. They do this on a weekly and monthly basis. God is rewarding them with souls. I’m also thinking of a youth group in Mexico who goes into hospitals in Jesus name and provides food for the poor whose families can’t help them. Together, they are his witnesses and the Holy Spirit is being poured out on their ministry.

The responsibility of winning souls isn’t on one Christian alone, but on us together. Each of us has a gift, a testimony, a calling. We each have a small part in the witness, but none of us can do it all. Some plant, and some water. God makes it grow.[4]

In the first lesson of this course, I shared about our neighbors who have been saved. It’s been a year since I wrote that testimony. During these past months, Danny and Kim have continued to grow in their faith. Everyone around them has taken notice, and they are both a tremendous blessing to our local fellowship.

Very recently, Kim had an unbelieving friend, Hettie, whom she has known for forty years, express a sincere interest in being right with God. This friend had never known Christ personally, though she has had some exposure to the gospel through the years and has lived a very hard life. So Danny, Kim, Becky, and I went to see her. When I asked Hettie about her interest in spiritual things, this is what she said: “I cannot believe the change that has happened to Danny and Kim. I have known them for forty years and just can’t believe the difference in their lives!” Later in the conversation, she said, “I want to be saved.” I shared a clear gospel Bible study, and together we led Hettie to Jesus. If I had attempted to witness to Hettie, apart from the witness of Danny and Kim, I doubt there would have been much effect. Together we were Christ’s witnesses.

[1] Acts 1:14; 2:1, 4

[2] Acts 4:31

[3] Acts 1:8

[4] 1 Corinthians 3:6

Many believers have been hurt by their local church, and so they’ve abandoned every local church; they’ve decided not to commit to any. They may attend occasionally, but they are not actively involved. What they often don’t realize is that when they abandon Christian community, they are abandoning God’s means of sanctifying them.

It you would become more self-giving, more joyful, more affectionate, more like the Lord, you must connect with this family regularly. Through congregational worship, small group discipleship, and one on one accountability, we will gradually be transformed into the people we were created to be. But what kind of church/spiritual community is most transforming?

Transformational Communities Are Receptive[1]

The New Testament church had its share of quarrels. In Romans 14, for instance, there were divisions in the churches of Rome regarding “doubtful things.”[2] Some weren’t able to eat non-kosher meat, while others could; some felt obligated to observe Jewish feast days, while others didn’t. Both sides were judging one another,[3] a term Paul uses 3 times in 13 verses. Worship and fellowship were becoming strained. Things were becoming very unpleasant! What is the solution?

The solution, Paul says, is to “receive” one another. He also uses this term three times. The spiritually strong must “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things.”[4] The weak must also receive him who eats, “because God has received him.”[5] And, to the whole church, Paul said, with the same problem in mind, “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”[6]

Jesus’ church will always be a very diverse one, and there is a great temptation to judge each other over any number of issues. The answer is to receive one another. This doesn’t mean that we should compromise with clearly unbiblical doctrines or lifestyles; but it does mean that we cultivate an atmosphere where true believers, who show the fruit of salvation, feel welcomed.[7]

John Wesley, in a famous sermon, said that it is an unavoidable consequence of human weakness and lack of understanding that we all hold somewhat different opinions in spiritual matters. He said the main question we should focus on is this: “Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart. If it be, then give me your hand.”[8]

An accepting community is not one that is tolerant of everything, not agreeable in everything, not gifted in the same ways, but united by truth and love.

► What are some of the challenges of being a receptive person or a receptive congregation?

Transformational Communities Are Edifying

This principle is covered well in our course, Doctrine and Practice of the Church, so I will not dwell on it here.  How are they edifying?

• Through biblical preaching and teaching
• Through God-exalting worship
• Through genuine fellowship
• Through acts of service

Transformational Communities Provide Accountability[9]

This is one of the most important reasons we must participate in Christian community. We all need accountability – especially pastors and Christian leaders. Accountability builds character. Accountability makes me more fearful of sin. Knowing that people are depending on me and will be expecting godly behavior from me is sanctifying.

Accountability sometimes leads to confrontation. This, too, is sanctifying and should be welcomed. We all need people to speak into our lives. We need to open ourselves up to others and confess our faults. We need transparency. Without accountability, we become spiritually careless.

King David needed a Nathan to confront him with truth.[10] Peter needed Paul to rebuke him for straying from the gospel.[11]

We must hold one another accountable to the Scriptures.

Always the Scriptures!

We are commanded to “admonish.”

To admonish is to warn, to watch out for, and to give guidance to each other. Paul says to “warn those who are unruly.”[12]

“Yet do not count him as an enemy but admonish him as a brother.”[13]

We must offer discipline. Discipline involves rebuke, correction, and instruction.

The early Methodists are some of the purest examples of the impact of accountability. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit their leader, John Wesley, preached to masses of (mostly) impoverished, neglected men and women in slum areas, street corners, and fields across England, and saw almost countless conversions to Christ. But he also saw a vast number of these converts become mature, Spirit-filled disciples. What was the key? He insisted that converts become committed to one another.

"Wesley... insisted that people join what were called societies, which functioned very much like (house) churches.... In addition, they were asked to join a class which consisted of twelve people and a class leader. Each week they were challenged to come to class meeting to share candidly with one another about the state of their souls. Wesley was so serious about this that if people failed to attend the class meeting, they would not be allowed to return unless they came to him and shared why they were absent.

"Though Wesley’s practice might not work [everywhere] in today’s world, it certainly did at the time. He offered people a method (hence the name 'Methodist') to grow in Christlikeness in the context of communities."[14]

The design of the class meeting was to obey that command of God, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” Here are questions often asked in those meetings:

1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?
2. What temptations have you met with?
3. How were you delivered?
4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which [you’re not sure is a] sin or not?

Pretty tough questions – but think of how transforming these kinds of questions could be for us if we took this much interest in one another. There is an almost shocking entry in John Wesley’s journal, where he grieves that he had failed to organize societies and class meetings in a certain town where he had preached. Many souls had come to Christ there, but when he returned twenty years later there was little fruit. This is what he says:

"I was more convinced than ever that the preaching like an apostle, without joining together those that are awakened and training them up in the ways of God, is only begetting children for the murderer. How much preaching has there been.... But no regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection. And the consequence is that nine in ten of those once awakened are now faster asleep than ever."[15]

Without accountability, churches become emotional and superficial. Dr. Dennis Kinlaw believes that you and I need the accountability of other believers in order to see the needs of our own heart. He writes:

"I am convinced this need for Christian community was the motive behind John Wesley’s creation of... classes in early Methodism. I do not think there was a better way to teach holiness. [These] meetings revealed one’s own carnality and the tyranny of one’s self-interest. We usually consider the church to be a place for edification, for building up one another in the faith; but it is also a place for examination and self-disclosure. That is a painful part of church life which we do not like; but it is a necessary part. On the foreign mission field, the mission workers’ greatest problems are not with the unsaved, but with the other missionaries. That is part of the divine plan [to sanctify us]."[16]

Practical Advice for Participating in Community

1. Make yourself available to others and to your church family.
2. Remind yourself often of how precious the church is to Christ and treat one another like family.
3. Commit to some form of ministry to the body, even if it’s cleaning toilets!
4. Be committed when you feel like it and when you don’t.
5. Make yourself vulnerable to others. If you’re a man, seek the friendship and accountability of another man of God. If you’re a woman, share your life with another godly lady.
6. When you gather for worship, do it with all your heart.
7. When there are problems in your local church, be part of the solution.

[1] Matthew 11:34-35; 28:18-20; Romans 15:7

[2] Romans 14:1

[3] Romans 14:4, 10, 13

[4] Romans 14:1

[5] Romans 14:3

[6] Romans 15:7

[7] See also Mark 9:35-41.

[8] John Wesley's sermon "Catholic Spirit."  Retrieved from http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-39-catholic-spirit January 18, 2021

[9] Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:14

[10] 2 Samuel 12

[11] Galatians 2:11

[12] 1 Thessalonians 5:14

[13] 2 Thessalonians 3:15

[14] James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Community (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 138

[15] Ibid, 139

[16] Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ (Wilmore: Francis Asbury Press, 1998), 65-66

(1) Take a test based on the material from this lesson.

(2) Meet together with your fellow classmates and testify to the spiritual lessons you have received from this course and the ways God has used these lessons in your life.

(1) Who is the Church?

(2) According to Ephesians 4:11-13, for what purpose are spiritual gifts given to the Church?

(3) About how many times is the phrase “one another” used in the New Testament?

(4) Finish this sentence: “Jesus came to form a __________, not just to save ____________________.

(5) Give three word pictures used to describe the church.

(6) What are three characteristics of transformational communities taught in this lesson?

(7) What four questions were often asked in the Methodist class meetings under John Wesley?