Great thoughts from Leland Yialelis.
Christianity is the only one of the world’s great religions where the primary focus is forming communities where every person is an agent of loving kindness. Christianity’s primary focus is the “one another.” Christianity was designed to be a religion without rituals, a religion without sacred places, sacred spaces, a cultureless, timeless spiritual experience. That which is sacred to Christianity is the way each Christian is to love and care for the other. Christ is the most singular person to have ever lived because His message was that every person has worth in the sight of God and is loved by God and consequently is to be loved by those who have accepted Christ’s call to discipleship.
While every other religion focuses on the sacredness of their understanding of the divine and what the human can, even must do, to connect with the divine. Christianity is not focused on a search for the divine. Christianity is founded on the reality that the Divine came looking for us, while we were yet sinners. The Divine came and was born among us to communicate to us in the clearest terms possible, I am here to show you that you are already loved by God. God extends His love and grace to all humans, “But I say to you, love your enemies . . . He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. . . Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:44 – 48 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13: 35
The central significance of the “one another” is uniquely Christian. The “one another” places the focus on the “other.” It turns us outward, but not just outward, outward in search of the other, outward in service to the other whom I am to love unconditionally, as I have experienced God loving me unconditionally. The love that is extended to the other is not rooted in anything but the existence of the “other.” Even if the “other” is my enemy, even if the other persecutes me, like my heavenly Father, I will love the other. If this outward turning love is to be practiced toward our enemies, how much more is it to be lived within the community of those sharing the same faith? The heart of Christianity is the uniqueness of its fellowship, the strength of the bonds that turn strangers into communities, the depth and breadth of the love that binds the hearts of one member to another.
What is the nature of this Christian love that the New Testament speaks of? We begin to understand that this love that Christ lived and taught is not just some emotional response. We get a clearer picture of how this love is to be understood by the other terms that are associated with the “one another.” When we understand that Christian love includes, giving preference to the other, not judging the other, building up the other, accepting the other, caring for the other, serving the other, comforting the other, bearing the other’s burdens, not gossiping about the other, being hospitable toward the other, we begin to grasp how truly unique the true Christian community is. This is truly like no other community on earth.
Inevitably, the matter of “evangelism” will come up. Currently, every Christian church / denomination places an emphasis on evangelism. How should evangelism be integrated into small communities of faith? The New Testament gives us the answer. The first step is to have healthy communities of faith that are actually living the very direct command of Christ, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another” John 13:34,35. This is the first step of evangelizing and the most important step. When the local body of Christ is healthy, treating each member as an equal, serving the other as Christ would, valuing the other as Christ does, than the newly born member of the family of faith has a “home” to foster the continued growth in the faith. Just as a new born child needs a home to provide nurture and a safe place to grow, so does the newborn child of God need a “home,” a place to be nurtured, a place to foster growth in faith in Christ.
The second step is remembering this lesson from the book of Acts. “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47 This is clarified by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3: 5 – 10 “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.”
AA offers us a model of this understanding of evangelism, “Our relations with the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. We think A.A. ought to avoid sensational advertising. Our names and pictures as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed. Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.”
If the body is healthy it will grow. If the body is healthy God will add daily those who are being saved. Our challenge, as Christians, is to be a healthy part of the local body of Christ, whether that body consist of 2, 3 or more. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20 The very essence of Christianity is to be found in a living loving community of faith. That community is to live a life guided by the simple values that Jesus Christ lived and taught, every individual is valued by God, every individual is equal to the other, every individual is called to a life of service to the other and to regard the other as serving them, every Christian is called to be a disciple of Christ and as His disciple an active member of the community of faith, that community will always value people and not things, and in this community love will reign.
When we approach the New Testament and read it as it was written without the lens of tradition, we discover the real nature of the ekklesia. We discover the simplicity that formed the very core of Christianity. We discover living loving communities of faith. These communities gathered to experience the meaning of a Christ lead community that loved. They did not gather to perform empty rituals. They gathered to share, to encourage, to bear one another’s burdens, to be a community filled with faith, hope, and love. They did not gather to “worship” by the repetition of some sacred ritual. They gathered to build up one another, to encourage one another, to stimulate one another to love and good works. Every member found meaning in the community by sharing their life and experience and by being blessed by the sharing of the others. There were no silent observers. No one left the gathering feeling lonely. Here they had experienced that others cared for them as they also cared for the others. Here in this community, they knew the joy that Christ had promised. They knew the peace that Christ had promised. They knew that they were not alone as they met the daily struggles of life.
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