We Were Created For Relationships
From the beginning, the original model of relationships has been God, “me,” and “others.” There ?s a relationship with God that each one of has as individuals, but in that relationship, there ?s a necessity of relationship with others. Jesus himself sums this up in boiling down all of “the Law and the Prophets” into two greatest commandments: the primary being “Love God,” and the secondary being, “Love Others.” God has created us with a primary purpose of loving him, and in doing so, we are also required to love others.
Although our relationship with God is on an individual level, it does rely heavily on our relationship with others. God views each of us as individuals, in regard to our relationship with him. That ?s why we cannot count on our parents ? relationships with God to cover ours. However, parents are clearly responsible for their children ?s upbringing, and children are clearly responsible for obedience to their parents. It ?s clear that our relationships with others are important to God ?s view of our individual relationships with him.
“Church” Is Built on Relationships
Relationship with God and others is why the church is so important in helping each of us grow closer to God and others. In the typical church body, the driving force usually comes from the large-group gathering, the Sunday morning worship service. This service produces the energy, excitement, vision, motivation, and resources to propel the body forward in fulfilling our individual purpose (love God and others) and the church ?s mission (bring others together to love God and others).
Smaller groups within the church body, whether classes, home Bible study groups, support and recovery groups, affinity groups, or service groups, are often scaled down models of the whole church. Each area of ministry does its part to help individuals and groups grow toward maturity and unity in the whole body. These smaller group settings are vital to the growth and maturity of the body. They facilitate learning, relationships, and mutual burden carrying.
No Choice but to Live in Relationships
My own personal faith hasn’t been characterized by being good at relationships, and as some could tell, I still have my problems with it. However, many more can tell you that I am far more relational now than I was three, five, ten years ago (pity my friends and coworkers). While my faith was largely based upon what I knew about the Bible, the more I studied it and tried to apply it to my life, the more I realized that I really had no choice but to learn how to have relationships and to live within those relationships. There are times when we all might consider that church would be a whole lot easier if it were not for all the people. The fact of the matter is that the church isn’t the church that God intended if we cannot live in relationship with each other.