Being Community
Breathe in and say, “Called together”. Breathe out and say, “Sent to all”. Repeat as many times as you need.
Listen.
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:24-25
Reflect.
This week, our devotions focus on our current sermon series “Being Church”. In it, we’re talking about the things that defined the early church and what they mean for us as believers today. Today, this passage from Hebrews helps us see the central importance of being with others as part of a Christian community.
In our devotion on Tuesday, we saw that the early Christians considered being in fellowship as one of the most basic elements of being a faith community. Here, in Hebrews, we hear it elevated even further. We must not neglect to meet together, the verse says. While we’re currently navigating the end of a pandemic and all the complicated things it means for our lives together, we still understand the importance of being around each other. We all know the loss of not being able to gather, whether with family, friends, church, or work. More than ever, we know the value of together.
Hebrews points us to those things that make being together so essential. When we’re with each other, we can keep reminding each other of the call to love and serve. We encourage each other. We can look ahead to hardships or challenges and support each other. Being in physical community is more than just seeing and being seen – it’s a physical reminder of our call to support, challenge, and love each other consistently.
As it turns out, distance doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. Distance can sometimes give us permission to ignore, forget, or assume the worst about others. It’s hard to be a faithful community when you adopt that mindset. Being in community means seeing each other as we really are, even our faults and failings, and learning how to still work together to the common goal of mission and ministry.
While we must currently be very cautious about being physically together to ensure health and safety, it won’t always be like this. Soon, we will be able to be together more and more. When that happens, we must remember that we’re called together as community for the good of the gospel. It is good to be together so that we can love, encourage, support, and challenge each other as we serve Jesus together.
Pray.
God, we thank you for the opportunity to be in community. Help us to see our fellowship not as a way to get what we want or only see those we like, but to be held accountable, work together, be challenged, share compassion, and serve you in all things. Amen.
Carry On.
What’s one way you can have consistent, caring, Christian community around you right now?