“LIFE IN THE SPIRIT—LIFE TOGETHER”
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,[e] striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”
– Philippians 1:27-30
Sometimes life is a struggle. It’s not a new thing. So many do and in so many different ways. I recently officiated the funeral of a man who died at the age of 95. His wife sat in the front row with their son and daughter. The couple had been married 72 years and when we closed the casket before going to the graveside, she leaned over to me and said, “he lived a good life.” Yes, he did. There was joy all around. Love does that… yet there was loss in the middle of it all. The struggle remains and each of us will get our turn. I call it ‘life in the Spirit.’ It’s what’s known as ‘life together’ as we are not created to live in solitude, and it takes community to help all of us carry on…
That’s how the church got started… 50 days after Easter and the day the whole Church claims to be its ‘birthday!’ For on that day Peter preached. He was accused of being drunk. Yet in a sober response, Peter preached on and 3,000 people were baptized! Would you hang around a church worship service that had 3,000 baptisms? Then St. Luke wrote in the Acts of the Apostles… “And they dedicated themselves to the apostle’s teachings, the prayers, the fellowship, the breaking of the bread. And the Lord ADDED to their numbers those who were being saved.” Awesome, huh? It seems the early church wasn’t advocating an acceptance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ but rather, they were intentional about building community! Life in the Spirit led to a life together!
This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about ‘life together’ in a book by the same title… “Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial.” There’s struggle even in the church!
Sometimes I hear others speak ill-willed of the Church. Words like ‘judgmental’ and ‘too moral.’ Or ‘the church is too busy pointing out other people’s errors than tending to the building up of people’s lives.’ You may have heard similar words or even said them yourself. I get that. But I also contend that we live in a time where there is more confusion than ever over the nature and work of Christ’s church… so let me try this …
1) We believe that ‘all have fallen short of the glory of God’ or we don’t—especially ourselves!
2) If we do then we all are in the same boat and in need of God’s grace and one another’s support!
3) Then, we can either be helpful and supportive and participate or remove ourselves from community and the often-difficult task of caring for our neighbor.
4) So, the church exists, then, not to instruct people to not sin. (Read that again!) The church exists to point others to the God who loves, welcomes and forgives us despite our sins.
Then begins the tedious task of building community, dedicating our lives to the apostle’s teaching, the prayers, the fellowship and the breaking of the bread… knowing that when we do these things God will do what God does, too creating life in the Spirit for all… Faith matters!
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
