Foundations – CONNECT to Grow

There is a great lie that comes straight from the pit of Hell. It’s an insidious lie, one designed to set us up for a fall. It’s whispered seductively into our ear from the world, from our enemy, and from within our wicked hearts. Want to know the worst part? Most of us grab hold of that lie and never realize that we are moving into treacherous territory.

So, what is the lie? It’s that you can be a faithful Christian apart from Christian community. It comes along with other lies meant to lead us away from God’s will. The message of God’s Word is dumbed down until all we’re left with is “Jesus came to save me from Hell, period.” The Great Commission of Matthew 28 becomes, “Make converts” rather than “Make disciples,” and the Great Commandment of Matthew 22 means, “Have a warm, fuzzy feeling about your personal God and don’t be mean to the guy next door.” And, the answer to Cain’s question in Genesis 4, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” becomes “Of course not! Watch out for number one and don’t butt in where you’re not wanted!”

Oh, how our enemy loves it when we buy into the lie. Cornelius Plantinga wrote an excellent book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, about this subject. You see, sin is alive. It is fueled by wicked desires of our heart and demonic powers around us. Sin has an agenda, to undo all that God wants done. And its methods are almost predictable as it advances its agenda…

1. Isolation. Has there been a time in your life where something you had done was so awful in your eyes that you were ashamed or afraid to share it with other Christians? Maybe you’ve had bad experiences with Pharisees when you hoped to find Christians, finding condemnation rather than grace. Maybe your view of the Christian journey is warped and you believe that, upon saving you, God also sanctified you, making you righteous rather than imputing Christ’s righteousness to you. Either way, sin is at work to drive you into hiding.


2. Perversion. Once you are separated from those who would be available to help you discern falsehood, you are given over to the lie, convinced it is true. Have you ever heard a husband say, “I think I married the wrong person and now God has shown me the person I should have married in the first place”? Apart from healthy Christian community, the boldest lies become believable and our character flaws continue unchecked.


3. Anti-evangelism. Finally, sin makes you an evangelist working against God. Look at the drug addict who can barely afford his own addiction. Yet, he seems to have plenty of drugs for his buddy to share because he’s winning converts over to his rebellion. Or how about the person who gets worked up over some issue in the church. Maybe it’s a legitimate concern; usually it’s a preference issue. But it’s not good enough to allow sin to fester in his own life. He needs to make disciples who agree with him.

So, what’s the solution? Well, the answer to that question is complicated, but it starts with a commitment to participate in healthy Christian community. That is one reason that discipleship at Grace Church is done in small groups. Healthy group is the place where we can help one another to be faithful to the Lord. Besides, most of what we are called to do involves other people. You can’t withdraw from community and be faithful to:

Accept one another (Rom 15:7), admonish one another (Rom 15:14; Col 3:16), pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another (Rom 14:19), carry each other's burdens (Gal 6:2), confess your sins to each other (Jas 5:16), be devoted to one another (Rom 12:10), live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16), be patient, bearing with one another (Eph 4:2; Col 3:12-13), spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Heb 10:24), submit to one another (Eph 5:21), and love one another (Jn 13:34; Rom 13:8; 1 Th 3:12; 1 Pet 4:8; 1 Jn 4:11).

Face it. We were made for community and saved to community. And God intends that we would serve and be served, know and be known. And community is where we are safe. What happens when we are separated from healthy community?

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. 1 Peter 5:8