Pillar 3 - Walking in Obedience
Join Community
Scripture commands community.
The idea that faith is a private matter between you and God alone is one of the most widespread — and most costly — misunderstandings in modern Christianity.
Do You Not Know ?
You Are God’s Temple …
That God’s Spirit Dwells In You
Have Your Not Heard ?
Encourage Others By Sound Doctrine
… Refute Those Who Oppose It
“And Let Us Consider How We May Spur One Another On Toward Love And Good Deeds” Hebrews 10:24
“Until We All Reach Unity … And Become Mature, Attaining To … The Fullness Of Christ” Ephesians 4:13
The Choice is Yours !!
“Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25
Are You In Community?
This is the truth in its simplest form — the same words printed inside every Join Community Truth Card:
Do not move past this too quickly.
If this is true, which it is, it changes everything about your life.
What Scripture Says About Community
Christian community reflects the very nature of God. God Himself exists eternally as a relationship of three persons in perfect communion. From Genesis, God declared it was not good for man to be alone. As Christ was preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection, he reassured them saying “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.”
While the Holy Spirit plays a powerful role in the church, Jesus also calls his people into relationship with one another. The early church exemplified his teaching by sharing resources among one another, meeting regularly, praying together and meeting each others’ physical and spiritual needs. The body of Christ is designed for mutual interdependence – for encouragement, correction, service and care.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians describing the church as the body of Christ clearly shows that spiritual growth and maturity are not solitary pursuits. The unity of faith we are to attain can be achieved only within the context of community. It reflects Proverbs 27:17 – “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Joining any group can be scary at first as you risk acceptance or rejection. Just know that Christ’s body is made up of many who are rejected by the world, but found acceptable to God through Christ. Community encourages, loves, corrects, forgives and celebrates you for who you are now and for who you are becoming in Christ Jesus.
Community also provides support when you falter or stumble. God often relieves the suffering, temptation and discouragement that can accompany the Christian through the grace and comfort of other believers. Mutual accountability protects against error, self-deception and moral compromise.
As such, it also provides a teaching and testing ground for the exercise of spiritual gifts. Your unique gifts are discovered, developed and employed to build up the body of Christ collectively. Most importantly, community demonstrates God’s love for others, serving as a powerful witness to the world. Loving across differences, forgiving genuinely, and serving sacrificially conveys the gospel in ways words cannot. Are you joined in power with community?
What Others Ask
Q. Why is Christian community important to the Bible?
A. God designed human beings for relationship — with Him and with each other. The New Testament presents the church not as a building or program but as a body (1 Corinthians 12) in which every member is necessary. Hebrews 10:24-25 warns against forsaking the assembly, calling the community to stir up love and good works in one another.
Q. What does the Bible say about Christian fellowship and belonging?
A. Acts 2:42-47 describes the early church as devoted to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer — sharing resources, meeting needs, and growing together. 1 John 1:7 ties fellowship to walking in the light: 'If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.' Authentic community is inseparable from authentic faith."
Q. Why do I need other Christians — can't I just follow Jesus on my own?
A. The lone-ranger Christian is a modern invention, not a biblical one. You were designed to be known, encouraged, corrected, and sharpened by others (Proverbs 27:17). The Holy Spirit gifts the church — not just individuals — for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). A Christian disconnected from community is like a coal removed from the fire — cooling quickly."
Q. What does the 'one another' language of the New Testament teach about community?
A. The New Testament contains more than 50 'one another' commands: love one another, bear one another's burdens, confess to one another, encourage one another, forgive one another. These commands are impossible to fulfill in isolation. They require the friction and proximity of real relationship. Community is not optional for the Christian life — it is the medium in which it grows.
Q. How do I find the right Christian community for where I am spiritually?
A. Look for a community grounded in Scripture, honest about sin and grace, and committed to both worship and mission. Don't wait to feel ready or worthy — no church is a community of the already-arrived. Start by attending consistently and serving wherever there is a need. Depth of belonging comes through commitment, not by waiting for the perfect fit.
Digging Deeper Introduction
Community reflects the very nature of our triune God. Genesis 1:26-27 describes God creating man in His image: “Let us make mankind in our image… So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” The plural “us” speaks directly to the relational essence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect communion as the Godhead. His creating mankind as relational beings reflects His own relational nature.
God’s relational design is demonstrated again in Genesis 2:18 when He declares “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Even in the sinless paradise of Eden with intimate communion with God, human beings needed human community. You are created as a social being, designed to flourish with others, not to suffer in isolation.
The church, as described in the New Testament, is a Spirit-led community of believers. Ephesians 2:19-22 defines the Church as God’s household and temple: “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 elaborates further: “'Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ ... Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
Community promotes unity - will you seek it?
Someone’s eternity depends on it!
Awaken the sleeper!
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