Solo Christian

Solo Christian
June 4, 2012
1 Cor 12:27  "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

No man is an island.  Though we can seclude ourselves for a while, we are all part of a community, a group made up of individuals.  The Lord never intended for us to be lone rangers, doing things on our own or without the help of others.  Since the beginning of creation, the Lord said it wasn't good for a man to be alone; that's why He created Eve (the first community).  You may think you can live without others, but only societies that live, work, and play together survive.  The Lord intended it this way; He never wanted you to go it alone.

The Apostle Paul writes several times that we are all part of the Body of Christ, meaning a group of individual Christians that make up the church.  But it is more than just a collection of individual Christians.  The Lord intended for us to play complimentary roles and to work together.  We all have different gifts and we are to function in those gifts, talents, and abilities for the betterment of others in the group.  We were never intended to function with our gifts by ourselves, or do it all alone.

If you consider ants, when one ant cannot carry the load fully by himself, the others join in and help.  This is how the Lord wants it for you and me.  I've often wondered why the Lord does not raise up one extremely wealthy Christian to create an endowment that pays for certain ministries or outreaches.  But that is not the way the Lord wants it.  He wants many individuals pooling their resources together, instead of just a one man show.  He wants a body of believers doing the work, not an individual who could possibly take the credit for any given success.

And just as you aren't supposed to function in your gifts away from the body, neither are you to grow in your Christianity by yourself.  In the Bible, there aren't any instances where individuals grew in their Christianity by being alone; it takes a full body of believers for encouragement and refinement.  If ever there was an individual in a secluded place, it was because the Lord took him away for a very short while, to be filled with His knowledge.  Then, with the newly filled knowledge from the Lord, he was sent back to the group, for the betterment of those in the body of believers.

The more you can engross yourself into a community of believers, the better off you will be physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  But if you seclude yourself, taking yourself away from the group, you will soon start to wither in all facets of your being.  Likewise, help those in the community of believers with your talents, as you never know when you'll need their complimentary skill-sets.  We must all work and play with those in the Body of Christ, living together so we can share in each others burdens and build each other up.  It takes a church to grow a Christian and it takes you doing your part in the body of Christ.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Rom 12:3-4, Eph 3:6, Eph 4:11-13, 1 Cor 12:26-28, Col 3:15