Do two men walk together unless they have made an agreement? (Amos 3:3).
I am a companion of all those who fear Thee, and of those who keep Thy precepts (Ps. 119:63).
In Gods economy, spiritual companionship occupies a significant place from the get-go. After the creation of man, God said, it is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him (Gen 2:18). Did God fail to anticipate Adams loneliness that He had to implement another operation to save him from the pain of loneliness? Of course not. He could have simultaneously created man and woman in one single act. But then, man would not have known the pain that stemmed from the lack of companionship and the joy of sharing and fellowshipping with a counterpart who understood him and was willing to share lifes journey with him.
Since God created man a tripartite being with spirit, soul and body, companionship has to be much more than merely meeting a physical need. After Adam carefully examined every cattle, beast and bird that was brought before him, he found none suitable for him (Gen. 2:20). There is reason to believe that Adams need for companionship was not only physical but also spiritual in nature. With Adams intelligence, after examining just one cattle, one beast, and one bird, he would have known beyond any doubt that they were totally incompatible to him so far as physical companionship went. Any further looking would have been a colossal waste of his time.
Yet there he was, checking and naming carefully every cattle, every beast, and every bird! He must have been looking for spiritual companionship as well.
It should be noted that many young men and women make physical attractions their only criteria in their search for suitable companions. Spiritual companionship is often neglected. This has to be a major factor in the many failed marriages. May the Lord grant us wisdom to see the importance of spiritual companionship.
There is a spiritual significance in creating man first in order to underscore mans need for companionship. From the very beginning, the Lone-Ranger mentality never entered Gods design. God made Adam and Eve individually to show how much He cared for each one of us as individuals, but men were not meant to be individualistic. God intended for men to be precious individuals, but not become individualistic.
The word companion includes the thoughts of walking together, sharing, friendship, fellowship, bearing the same burden, and oneness. In the New Testament, Jesus sent His disciples out two by two. In the book of Acts, Paul was always accompanied, when possible, by traveling companions in his missionary journeys. Apparently, having friends along side who share the same vision, bear the same burden and labor together towards the same goal are important elements in doing the Lords work.
The only New Testament worker who struck out on his own Apollos was shown to be wanting and in need of being taught more fully the ways of God by Pauls coworkers Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18: 24-26). Barnabas, on the other hand, who separated from Paul still knew the importance of taking a co-worker on his missionary journey.
In the temptation of Eve, one of the things that led to her poor judgment was the neglect in seeking fellowship from her companion. Paul seemed to underscore this point when he wrote to Timothy, And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression (I Tim 2:14). From the strategy to deceive Eve, it is not hard to see that the Enemys way of frustrating Gods purpose was to trivialize companionship.
Today, the Enemys strategy hasnt changed. He seeks to trivialize companionship and fellowship among Gods children by, among other things, instituting clergy-laity system in which only a select group of seminary-trained and institution-minded individuals, a.k.a. clergy, are qualified to intimate Gods mind and speak for Him. When Christians face important decisions or want questions answered, they seek out pastors, preachers and ministers for counsel; whether they have a close companionship with such men of God is of no concern.
There is reason to believe that the trivialization of spiritual companionship which results in a lack of relatedness among the Lords people, is one huge problem facing the Church today.
When a minister goes to visit his flock, it is a top-down, clergy-laity, teacher- student relationship. This model, by nature and by design, inhibits free flow of fellowship. When fellowship is limited, the comprehension of the mind of Christ is also diminished.
Companionship on the other hand brings everyone down to the same level where friendship and intimacy have a chance to blossom. Likeminded saints can enter into each others travails and share each others joy. Fellowship is usually much sweeter, prayers are usually more effective, and comprehension of Christ much deeper.
The churches are run as institutions much the same way like corporations with CEOs, experts, organizational charts, plans and goals, committees, boards, etc
. Such being the case, it is no wonder that Christians think it normal to rely on the clergy to counsel and solve their problems much the same way an Accountant is expected to solve tax problems. The clergy has become the paid professionals.
Christians are unwilling to, neither are they interested in, developing companionship with fellow-Christians in order to search out and apprehend the riches and fullness of Christ. There is a price involved in developing companionship; it doesnt just fall into our laps. The nominal believers tend to be unwilling to pay the price. On the other hand, the gifted, eloquent and zealous believers tend to be self-reliant, if not outright self-conceited. Surely they do not need anyones help in finding the Lords will and getting spiritual answers least of all from untrained and ungifted little brothers and sisters. Or do they
?
Paul says in Eph. 3:18-19, [you] may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Clearly, a Lone Ranger who has no regard for all the saints, can never come into full knowledge and experience the fullness of God it is simply not meant to.
Since being filled up to all the fullness of God is a result of learning to comprehend with all the saints, then spiritual companionship is obviously the key. So, the important question is, how can we be blessed with spiritual companionship?
First, lets consider what prevents spiritual companionship from forming. Amos tells us, Do two men walk together unless they have made an agreement? (Amos 3:3). God, in fact, desires companionship. He comes to walk with Adam in the cool of the day but finds him in hiding instead sin had entered into man, and sin destroyed the agreement, or oneness with God, therefore damaged companionship faster than anything else.
Our walking along side with God should never be tainted by sins. May the Lord keep our walk with Him pure and grant us a heart which is quick to repent and turn back to Him.
It is very important to note that the agreement spoken of by Amos does not refer to a doctrinal oneness that is derived by an arbitrary enforcement of certain theological teachings. Unfortunately, many Christian leaders and groups use this verse to legitimize their sectarian and divisive teachings and practices. To be able to fellowship together, they contend, Christians have to agree on vision, understanding of doctrines and interpretation of the Scriptures
. There have even been extreme cases where mens zeal to defend their theology or church affiliation caused misapplication of this wonderful verse and resulted in unfortunate divisions among Gods people.
This type of mindset leads inevitably to the formation of elitist groups. Each group thinks highly of its leader and his teachings. Nonconformity to its leader and teachings are treated as outsiders, therefore inferior, and are shunned or despised.
Presently, as well as throughout Church history, many precious saints have been given wonderful revelations with regard to the way an authentic first- century church works. Regrettably though, much of the attention and emphasis have been focused on the outward form of doing church correctly. Again, making everyone agree on the way church should be done correctly becomes a foremost concern. Whether men have allowed the Lord to lay hold of them and instill His very essence and character into their beings become secondary considerations.
We need to ask ourselves, what good is the biblically correct way of doing church if we never learned to allow the Lord to deal with us and change our inner being into His likeness? What is the church anyway, is it the result of mans zeal and effort to do it correctly? Or is it Christ lived out and shared among believers?
Lets face it, even if the Lord created a perfect church model and plops us all smack dab in the middle of it, our human nature, religious concepts, and a multitude of self-related fleshly tendencies will always find ways to destroy each other and ruin the perfect church.
Lance Lambert once said half jokingly, The church is perfect until you showed up. No truer words have been uttered! This generic you is the embodiment of all human nature with its various fleshly and religious tendencies. This un-dealt with flesh will always destroy the church, no matter how perfect it is!
The other day, a dear sister made a keen observation: A beautiful and authentic Ming vase is highly sought after, but there are only a few authentic Ming vases the rest of them are imitations (or worse, fakes). Why would Christians clamor and split hairs over trying to be an Authentic First-Century Church? There can only be one authentic first-century church, and it existed in the first century. The best efforts of men can only produce an imitation of the first century church (or a fake one)!
Is this worth all the fuss? Come on!
I was reminded of a story I heard about Billy and Ruth Graham being invited to a banquet in England. Many government officials were present. Ruth was seated next to an official in charge of catching crooks who made counterfeit money. Fascinated, Ruth asked, Sir, you must spend all your time studying all those fake bills in order to be able to know the difference between the fake and the real thing. No, maam, replied the official, I spend all my time studying the real thing; thats how I can instantly spot a fake one.
Allow me to humbly submit: no one whose sole focus is on the church has ever found, nor will ever find, the authentic church. On the other hand, eyes fixed on Jesus who is the Author and Perfector of our faith will usher us into His church which is His body that expresses Him.
The agreement between brothers and sisters, whether doctrinal or experiential, can only be formed as we each focus on the Lord and maintain a close walk with Him. The more we walk with the Lord and allow Him to touch many aspects of our lives, the more we would come into this agreement, or oneness, with Him. This agreement with the Lord is grown into organically. No amount of teaching, training and indoctrination will ever make us come into agreement with Him.
And growth is full of pain and perils. Each failure is used by the Lord to bring about repentance and surrender. Each bruise is tended to and bound up by the Lord to facilitate healing and renewing. As the cross deals with our self- life, yielding to it increases the resurrection fragrance of Christs life in us it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20).
A while back, a dear sister forwarded a poem she found on the Internet to the saints, and I was very impressed by it:
Sometimes life seems hard to bear, Full of sorrow, trouble and woe It's then we have to remember That it's in the valleys we grow.
If we always stayed on the mountain top And never experienced pain, We would never appreciate God's love And would be living in vain.
We have so much to learn And our growth is very slow, Sometimes we need the mountain tops, But it's in the valleys we grow.
We do not always understand Why things happen as they do, But I am very sure of one thing. My Lord will see me through.
The little valleys are nothing When we picture Christ on the cross He went through the valley of death; His victory was Satan's loss.
Forgive me Lord, for complaining When I'm feeling so very low. Just give me a gentle reminder That it's in the valleys I grow.
Continue to strengthen me, Lord And use my life each day To share your love with others And help them find their way.
Thank you for the valleys, Lord For this one thing I know The mountain tops are glorious But it's in the valleys I grow!
As each step we take in our journey with the Lord results in further step of agreement with Him, spontaneously, our agreement with the saints will become a true reality.
The Psalmist declares, I am a companion of all those who fear Thee, and of those who keep Thy precepts (Ps. 119:63). Notice the intimacy of the Psalmist here in this verse. He converses with the Lord face to face. Yet he is not a Lone Ranger. He also has a close relationship with the saints he is a companion with others. But his companionship is not the result of horizontal friendship with others; it is the result of a vertical relationship with the Lord fear Thee, and keep Thy precepts.
Lets be very clear about this, unless our focus is the Lord and our relationship is fresh with the Lord, there can be no agreement between two men, neither is walking together possible. You can quote me on this.
Consider for a moment the two disciples walking together in complete agreement on the road to Emmaus. Their agreement was based upon physical evidence that their Savior, Deliverer and Lord was crucified therefore all hope of salvation, restoration and glory was dashed. Then came Jesus to walk along side of them. As their horizontal agreement with each other began to turn and be aligned with Him, notice how quickly they shifted their journey in reverse!
Now their companionship is no longer based upon a horizontal agreement with each other but on a vertical agreement with the risen Lord of lords and King of kings. This, dear friends, must form the basis of all spiritual companionship.
Many Christian leaders have pushed a horizontal agreement among their followers, and there is no lack of zeal in their followers to spread this gospel and make converts of this man-made agreement and artificial walking together. The sad outcome is a blanket of darkness descending over the minds of innocent but undiscerning brothers and sisters who were misled into believing they have been ushered into Gods ultimate purpose and desires.
With such groups, usually walking in lock-steps with their leaders and with each other is touted as oneness and should be preserved at all cost. Companionship is greatly prized, but it is a companionship missing the vertical link the relationship and agreement with Christ.
So, we must come back to rediscovering our vertical agreement with our Head again. Learn to walk with Him in our daily lives. Learn to hearken to His still small voice. Learn to focus on Him. Learn to submit to His dealings.
As we learn to draw near to Him, we will discover the Lord gently placing around us sweet companions who understand us, appreciate us, forgive us for our faults, warts, abrasiveness and mistakes; and they are willing to walk with us and bear our burdens. There is nothing sweeter than this. Its a genuine church life that we do not deserve and have not labored for.
Is it First-Century? Is it authentic? Is it planted by an Apostle?
Well
who cares
?
There is something in every normal human being to desire companionship. Meaningful and pleasant relationships with fellow-Christians who understand and appreciate friendship bring joy and healing to our lives. Loners, on the other hand, often resort to either doing harm to themselves or to others.
Still, there are others who hang out in parties and busily involve in activities or "ministries" but are unable to develop real companionship. Activities, ministries and group rituals can become facades to mask inward loneliness.
The only answer to these problems? Jesus.
Jesus was called a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 11:19). He fondly referred to Lazarus as our friend in John 11:11. He is ready and willing to be our Friend and to walk along side of us whether we are rotten sinners or lowly and ungifted Lazaruses.
So, shall we learn to agree with Him, and allow this vertical agreement to form the basis of our walking together in a precious and unpretentious church life?
Amen.
Oliver Peng 05/10/2007 www.thecloseddoor.com |