Now, I’m not picking on my church. I absolutely love my church or my family wouldn’t be there. I’m talking about a larger issue in the Church, which unfortunately manifests itself in most churches. It isn’t that people are selfish and won’t share what they have, I often see people give generously to help others. The problem is that Christians are generally not so good at sharing their lives with each other.
The New Testament seems to have a common theme of sharing in the lives of other believers. Paul often shares his triumphs, as well as his struggles and failures. However, that is one practice that we seem to ignore in modern Christianity. I don’t know if it is the fear of embarrassment, desire to fit it, or just our pride, but far too many Christians tend to keep their personal trials and downfalls to themselves.
It seems obvious that isolating yourself would make it more difficult to live a Godly life. If we were more willing to share our personal needs, we would probably have more help offered to us than we could ever imagine. If we would share our fears, we would be surrounded by encouragement and love. If we would share the temptations that we struggle with, we would have people to help us avoid certain situations and to hold us accountable. If we would share our sins, we would have people to pray with us, let us know we are loved, and to help us forgive ourselves as we ask for God’s forgiveness.
I’m definitely preaching to the choir on this one. I know how hard this is. But just think about how close we, as a local church and as the Church, could grow together as family and closer to God. Isn’t that the point of having a church family?
In the book of Acts, the first Christians sold everything they owned, put the money it one big pile, and took only as they had need. While that isn’t as practical in today’s world, it is a great principle. So let’s try to share our pain, sorrow, and struggles as well as our triumphs and victories with other believers so that we may all be stronger in our relationships with Jesus Christ.
Are there people in your church family that you are able to truly share your life with?