One of the most cherished (by today’s standards) characteristics of Christian fellowship, which stands out from a group of my dog-park buddies, a local club of rosarians, or the veterans I went to school with decades ago, is the depth of concern for salvation of our fellow man. The former may have a regard for one another, beyond knowing the names of one another’s dogs, assisting with rose coare, or swapping “no bull****” stories, but Christian fellowship is different. The sincerest regard for another’s well-being is with people whose allegiance is to Jesus Christ.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
1 John 1: 3 -4, (NIV)
Those other groups are well-meaning, but a relationship with God through Jesus, being led and motivated by the Holy Spirit, motivates the follower to rely on a power that others cannot recognize though they can see His effect. It is not because Christians are any less susceptible to human weaknesses like indebtedness, addictions, anger or unspiritual thinking and behavior. However, people will notice husbands and wives who turn to God drawing closer to one another when popular opinion might assume divorce is coming. Praying for God’s intervention to mend a relationship with an estranged child or heal from an addiction is a patient trust that comes from Faith. Counselors, therapists and doctors can help people recover from trauma, but God’s mercy and Grace is tantamount. Close relationships within a community that relies on God are fundamental. The Bible calls on the faithful believer to transform her thinking through renewing the connection via the Spirit to God (Romans 12:2 (NIV)).
So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.
Hebrews 10: 24-25 (Message)
This last is the most important consideration to obtain healing and build community. An intentional Christian, a disciple or “apprentice” of Jesus Christ, does not trust that they have “arrived” through church membership, or position, or years living the Christian life, but recognizes their susceptibility to unspiritual attitudes, behavior or pride. It is a requisite that each follower remains humble, dedicated to being more like Christ with each passing day. As a community of believers, recognizing that “broken” people need Grace until they draw their last breath, is a commitment that each of us remain willing to help the other. These are difficult lessons. For those who remain God-centered, repentant, and “community”, Joy during one’s physical lifetime and an Eternal reward in the metaphysical, is the Promise of God through Christ.
9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
Romans 8: 10 – 12 (Message)
It's a Dog's Life 