Saturday, July 11, 2009
♥ 9:37 PM
ever heard christians say," I don't want to be rooted in a church" or " I don't need to join a cell group" ? Very often their reason is that they feel that religion is just between them and God. Yes, i agree that God wants to have a PERSONAL relationship with us, but i couldn't agree more that God desires for us to build Godly relationships with people around us. So in this sense, our christian walk should be God+ Me + People. I realise God likes the number 3. God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus also chose 3 disciples out of the 12 to be closest to Him. So likewise, our relationship with God should also involve three parties, God, ourselves, and other people.
I believe that for different seasons of our lives different people will be sent to us, each for a specific purpose. Even the Bible talks of us like different parts of a body. How can the eye tell the ears "I dont need you"? The fact is we all complete each other in one way or another. In Ephesians 3:22, it says "in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit". Notice it uses the word "being" which is in the continuous tense. and not only that, but it also follows with the word "together". Which means that we are in the process of building/helping each other to become better people. And if we do this, TOGETHER, we will become a dwelling place of God. The Bible also says in Genesis 2:18 that it is not good that man should be alone. When God saw that Adam was alone, He gave Him Eve to be his helper. Similarly, God has placed "Eve"s in our lives too. Not "Eves" as in spouse (that He will also provide), but i'm refering to "Eve"s as a helper. They may come as leaders, friends, family, teacher, and so on.
Also, more than God sending people into our lives to help us, we are also being sent into other people's lives to help them. I like something which pastor Tan shared awhile ago. he said that when we take communion, it is not to remind ourselves that Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, but to remind ourselves that in the same way that Jesus sacrificed for us, we are to also sacrifice for the people around us. I've heard people said that christians are very judgmental, that because of our narrow-mindedness people feel outcasted, people such as smokers, homosexuals, ex-convicts ect. I feel that it's because people see christianity as a religion. To me, RELIGION = RULES. and i hate rules. so right form the beginning i was never bought into this religion thing. what caught me was a relationship. a relationship with a God who loves. and out of this love that we've received from Him, we are to share it with the broken-hearted, the rejected, the vulnerable. The perfect example to follow is Jesus. Throughout His whole ministry on earth He touched the lepers, He fellowships with the tax collectors, people whom the "holy" ones thought were unclean and unfit to be touched and cared for. But Jesus' heart was all out for them.
So anw, my point is that we are called into fellowship. We were meant for relationships. Maybe this post will give you a different view towards church? That it's not just for singing songs and feeling all happy inside when we exit the church door on sundays. More importantly, it is a means for us to build relationships for us to help one another grow. Remember, you are never alone in life, there are always people who are thinking of you, praying for you, whether you know it or not (: