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"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more
as you see the Day approaching."
(Hebrews 10:24-25)
I really enjoy Wednesday evenings at Great Hills Baptist Church, our church here in Austin, Texas. I am teaching and discipling about 15 men, and we are going through the NavPress book, Growing Strong in God's Family, Vol. 1. I teach for about 45 minutes, and the guys in the group do a great job giving feedback and sharing how God is speaking to them as they complete their workbooks. At the end of the teaching time, we all break into groups of 4-5 men and have a time of fellowship and accountability. (Each man talks about his 5 W's: Walk with God, relationship with his Wife (if he is married), who he has Witnessed to in the past week, how Work is going, and an update on his Wellness or health.
Recently, one of the men shared how God has allowed him to witness to a coworker, and in so doing, he quoted 1 John 5:11-12: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." His coworker was touched by the Word of God being quoted to him. We all rejoiced in this victorious moment. Part of our discipleship time is dedicated to Scripture memory. It is so cool to see men of God memorizing the Word of God!
It dawned on me afresh as we were talking and discussing how the Lord is growing us that it is impossible to have moments like this when you are alone. God never intended us to live the Christian life alone; He desires us to be in community with other followers of Jesus. I shared with the men that we can surely have time alone with God in our quiet times, and we should, but there is something very special and powerful about the church coming together and being with one another.
One accurate way to interpret today's Scripture from Hebrews is simply this: "Go to church." But why? The author tells us to do this so that we can consider each other and stir one another on to love and good works. The Greek word translated "stir" is an interesting one; it is the word paroxysmos, which means to incite to do good deeds or bad deeds. It is where we get the English word "paroxysm", a medical term that means a sudden expression of an emotion. Positively speaking, we are encouraged by Scripture to meet with each other so we can spur each other on in our walk with God. We absolutely need one another!
Recently, while battling a pretty tenacious cold, the thing that bothered me the most (far more than missing working out at the gym) was missing being with these brothers on Wednesday night and missing church on Sunday morning. Like a plant that needs sunshine and rain, I so desperately need the people of God to build me up in my faith.
How about you? Are you a part of a church family where you are giving and receiving encouragement and nourishment in your walk with God? There is power in simply showing up and being present so you can give and receive. As someone famously put it, "Eighty percent of success is just showing up."
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