In Acts 2:42, the scripture tells us that the early church continued “steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.” Like them, many of us value the same thing—accurate theology and meaningful fellowship. To have fellowship within the congregation, both must be present. Our doctrine and shared experience with Christ Jesus unify believers. Our shared salvation experience is a greater commonality than any social similarity imaginable. Our communal faith transcends the natural world and supersedes culture itself.

            The problem within much of the gathered church is evidence of too much self-centeredness. A healthy marital or family relationship requires more than merely having something in common. We make holy commitments to our spouses and children to love, to have, and to hold…for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. But when it comes to the faith community, the unifying commitments made in Christ and before the congregation seem too fickle.

            Faith in Christ places us within the Body of Christ and so requires a certain ethic from us. Christ changes how we relate to each other when we gather for worship. Our shared faith changes how we interact with each other when we are away from our assemblies. It shapes our group loyalties and our willingness to support others in times of need.

            While there are many great challenges to serving as a pastor or church leader, you must be able to facilitate relationships within the church. However, too many of our memberships know very little about one another, worship alongside virtually anonymous groups of worshipers, and are not engaged in any form of a genuine community of believers able to bear one another’s burdens. Too many come to worship (or watch online) only for the sake of their own spiritual life and personal salvation.

            Today we live in a “Me First” decade. We take care of personal desires, and if it hurts, is difficult, uncomfortable, lacks style, or doesn’t affirm my “lifestyle,” people walk away from the church. Pastors resign because the work seems too hard. Leadership gives up because they lack the intestinal fortitude to risk a new venture.

            The apostles taught us to live differently from the greater community. We are to be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9), care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:26), pray for one another (James 5:16), restore one another (James 5:19-20), teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), and to serve with love (Galatians 5:13). All of this is because Christ is the “tie that binds” us in Christian love, and that our shared citizenship is not of material kind.

            Jesus viewed his followers as a “family” who would do the Father’s will (Matthew 12:46-50). The apostles referred to one another as a “brotherhood” (1 Peter 2:17), as a “house of God” (1 Timothy 3:15). So, the church membership should be an intimate household of shared faith experience. We are to physically represent the spiritual enfolding of Christ, the Church, the Father, and the Spirit.

            In our discipline of one another (if there is such a thing these days), we should respond because we are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. If one is in sin, we should take advantage of the shared family relationship to engage the erring one. However, the failure of much “church discipline” is because we lack the proper fellowship, to begin with. We lack sufficient ties that bind the body together to start with.

            We must forgive one another because our shared faith in Christ Jesus is more important than our earthly opinions. Moreover, the Father has forgiven us all by the gift of Christ Jesus. Yet still, our forgiveness is contingent on our willingness to forgive our Christian siblings (Matthew 18:23-25).

            The Church is our true home. For some, joining this spiritual home may cost them some part of the earthly home (as is the case on some mission fields). Still, the Church is a home for all people; those who are far from home, those who never had an earthly family (or an incomplete one), or from a dysfunctional family of abuse or neglect.

            Forsaking the assembling of ourselves for worship, discipleship, and fellowship deprives each other of being close to each other and deprives ourselves of a great blessing found in Christ. My friends, let us all work at being the kind of faith community where God is worshiped, Christ is praised, and our lives are elevated. Suppose you have never experienced this kind of fellowship. In that case, I encourage you today to first engage with Christ Jesus as savior and then engage other like-minded believers who share the same faith experience of salvation.