This world has taught us to be independent.

Independence for me personally is being financially independent while I’m not married and still making do with what I have. For me, this means being knowledgeable on financial tools, knowing what money is available to spend and being able to tell myself I don’t need that, I need to wait til I have extra funds. It’s also planning for myself, but knowing that plans and expectations will change and being ready to lose SOME independence in that regard.

The promotion of independence has gone sky high on Earth (maybe just the United States and other similar developed countries.. lol). “Be your own person.” “Don’t let other people tell you how to live your life.” In recent years, I’ve seen on social media especially that independence and individualism is like a top priority.

That’s probably all fine and dandy until you’re so independent you believe that you don’t need community with other believers.

People leave the church because “it’s full of hypocrites.” Well, if you find a church without them, you should probably look elsewhere.

Look at Romans 3:23

We need the church.

The “church” is not a building or a place. It’s the people – people make up the church. I go to the same building every Sunday and Wednesday but that’s where we gather together in worship and fellowship with one another, not because the building holds some hidden force.

Church as a community of believers provides a family, brought together by the belief in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “head” and we are the “body” as read in the Bible.

We can reach far more people together than we can alone.

..so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body and we all belong to each other.

Romans 12:5

For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.

Matthew 18:20

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one spirit, and we all share the same spirit. yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.

1 Corinthians 12:12-15

The church needs dependable people.

What is a group of people who only meet up on Sundays? What is a group of people who don’t associate outside of four walls of a building? What is a group of people who only show up when they get something in return for their time, talents or money?

These don’t describe the church or God’s people.

The church is ALIVE and ACTIVE just like Jesus is through the Holy Spirit. He’s continually working in His people. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells His disciples to go and make disciples. Disciples go and make more disciples. We don’t just meet up and catch up on our week. We have to go, learn, grow and let it all ripple out into every aspect of our life.

It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.

1 Corinthians 5:12

There’s many people who believe that as believers we shouldn’t pass judgement at all and mind our own business, quit worrying about everyone else. They see Matthew 7:1, that says “do not judge,” but fail to see the responsibility of helping our brothers and sisters from going astray. This leads to the importance of accountability within the church – without accountability, the church weakens.

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

Do we not grieve when I close brothers and sisters grieve? Do we not try to go through life feeling some emotion and sorrow when they struggle next to us?

It is urgent to be dependable in the church because there are younger disciples watching and there’s always someone at any age needing someone to lean on. We face many trials and it’s a cruel world to live in – we were never meant to walk our journey alone. This is why the church is important.

People leave the church because “it’s full of hypocrites.” Well, if you find a church without them, you should probably look elsewhere. We all fail and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We still sin and need God, we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit to work in us continually.

Depend on God.

James 1:5 tells us that if we need wisdom, we can ask God and He will give us wisdom. God is generous! Ask and you shall receive (ref. Matthew 7:7). If we can ask God for stuff like that, doesn’t that mean we can depend on Him for ALL things? YUUUUPPP.

James goes on to tell us that our faith should be in God alone when we ask (1:6) and not have a divided faith. Remember that God is a jealous God and that we can’t serve two masters if we are a servant of Christ (Exodus 20:5, Matthew 6:24)

It’s hard to depend on God when so many believers aren’t talking about God or they express their ability to fix their own problems, when it can really only be made right through God. Sometimes, there may not be any easy fix at all and we need to lay our burdens down before God rather than wrestle with it all ourselves. In a world full of independent people, we actually have more to “worry” about now than we did 100 years ago. Issues have arisen socially, economically and whatever else that just doesn’t matter in the kingdom of God.

Depending on God isn’t a weakness… it’s acknowledging his strength.

Anonymous

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

How can we be dependable in the church if we’re not depending on God for strength, wisdom, and all our needs?

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