Living with Real People (part I)

It sounds so perfect, this early, excited, on-fire church. There was only one problem with it; they let people in! And you know how those humans are. Sure enough, there were problems at least as early as Acts 6 (and no doubt from the very first day, realistically). The thing about humans is that we live in this broken world, disconnected from the God who made us, and therefore by default, disconnected from each other. Every single one of us has been hurt and scarred and damaged. Every one of us gets afraid, angry and sad. We have an almost unconquerable need to protect ourselves, look out for our own interests, get defensive, judge others. The kindest, most loving Christian gets a little sideways from time to time.

When that happens, it’s good to remind ourselves where we came from and where we’re going, and looking at One Another texts is a great way to start. They are easily found—just go to Strong’s or another concordance and look up “another.” Look for the letters and books of the New Testament, and watch for places where “another” has “one” in front of it. (Or, in some translations, look for “other” and find places that have “each” before it.) There are way, way too many to go into here, so we’ll choose three places, from Romans, Ephesians, and 1 Corinthians.

These three were chosen for this unit for a particular reason: they are all right next to spiritual gifts passages. Why should this be so? Paul’s fascinating idea seems to be that it is just this endless diversity of gifts that leads to a complete, or whole fellowship.

“One Another” Passage Number One: The entire chapter of Romans 12 is devoted to how to be a fellowship of faith. If we were to outline it, it might look something like this:

1. You can be a perfect sacrifice to God. Verses 1 and 2.

2. Start by being humble. Verse 3.

3. We have many gifts, and it takes all of them to be the body of Christ. Verses 4 and 5.

4. Some gifts are listed. Verses 6-8 are most often listed, but 9-13 make an even more complete list of spiritual gifts.

5. Join in the feelings of others, including your enemies, and don’t seek revenge. Verses 14-21.

The last half of the chapter in particular, lists specifics about how to treat “one another.” Look for the good, be devoted to one another, give preference, be diligent, rejoice, persevere, pray, give, share hospitality.  Continued…