We're in this Together

Christianity is not an individualized belief; rather, we belong to each other in the body of Christ. 

We need others in our lives and Jesus showed us that time and again, especially during the last 3 years of His life.  He almost always had His disciples with Him and more often than not, He was surrounded by crowds of people. 

People crowded around Jesus because He cured the blind and lame, healed lepers, and raised up the dead.  He called sinners to leave their own lives behind and live a new life in Him.  They yearned to be taught by Him and as a result, their lives were changed in ways they never could have imagined on their own.

Jesus wasn't just surrounded by those who wanted and needed Him, He was also surrounded by His disciples; whom He called to be with Him.  Jesus and His disciples traveled together, ate together, and spent time in public ministry together.

To those who say they don't need to go to church to be with God I say this, when your island floods, who's going to pull you out of the water? Community is essential to our very survival. Ask anyone who has ever spent Thanksgiving or Christmas alone what it would have meant to them to have even just one person to share the holiday with.

The old saying, "there is strength in numbers" shows just how important community truly is.  On our own, we can be very weak but we are strengthened when another joins us and the strength grows exponentially as more and more people come together.  The body of Christ is a community of believers bound together in faith, hope and love.

Do you know anyone who lives on their own and keeps to themselves?  Are they self-centered?  How are their communication skills?  Can they share ideas with another person or do they insist their own ideas and thoughts are correct?  Are they set in their ways?

We are made for one another and together we make up the body of Christ.  When we separate ourselves from the body of Christ, not only do we lose something, the body of Christ loses something.  Every individual part of the body is essential to the whole body because we are bound together.