“Why do I need to be part of a discipleship group?”
“Why do people keep trying to talk to me? I just want to be left alone to worship!”
“Aiyah I don’t understand how they think lah, just let them be by themselves and do their own thing lor.”
“We just need to know the Word, don’t need to cry on each other’s shoulders.”
“Tsk, these people are so inconsiderate, talking/coughing/moving so much during worship.”
“I trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, a relationship with Jesus is all I signed up for, not relationships with all of these other people!”
Sound familiar? All of us have thought or felt at least one of these at some point in our lives. And many of us feel that the Christian life would perhaps be much easier without other Christians making life difficult. Yet Jesus tells us that those who believe in Him are united to Him (John 15:4-5, Rom 6:3-8, among others), and a logical implication of that is that those who believe in Him are also then united to each other, in one Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27). We don’t get to pick and choose which members of the Body of Christ we are connected to: if we are connected to Christ, we are connected to ALL parts of Christ.
And Jesus tells us that we need each other to grow. Each of us are not burdens or obstacles to the other’s growth, but instead each of us are a necessary condition, a fertiliser in a sense, for the other’s growth. The joke is always that it’s easy to be holy when no one else is around, but you can only grow in the fruit of the Spirit when there are other believers around you – not only because they encourage you, but also because they annoy you. And you need other believers around you for you to be able to practice what Jesus has commanded – how do you love one another (John 13:34-35) if there are no others around you? How do you welcome each other (Rom 15:7) or show hospitality (1 Pet 4:9) if you are alone? How do you agree, and live in harmony, at peace with each other, in the same mind with each other (2 Cor 13:11, Rom 12:16, Rom 15:5, Phil 4:2) without others around? And how do you teach, encourage and exhort each other (1 Thess 4:18, Heb 10:25, Col 3:16) with only one person?
Our growth in spiritual maturity and obedience depends on being with other believers. It’s often uncomfortable, but it is necessary. May we all grow in love for each other and grow together in Christlikeness.