Journey Together
“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:14-16
INSIGHT
I don’t know.
There is no clear answer for that.
These phrases are so crucial and life changing as I have conversations with people about the Scriptures.
If we are honest, there is a lot to wrestle with in Scripture. Saying we just don’t know is not a weakness or something to be ashamed of. We are all better off when we are authentic together. Also, there is so much beauty in becoming Christ followers who want to wrestle with Scripture together.
We are seeing more and more people walk away from their faith. The issue is not people wrestling with tough passages in Scripture, the issue is that many are wrestling alone. When we try to make sense of Scripture by ourselves, we may get overwhelmed and be tempted to throw our hands up and walk away. But community serves as a safe place to struggle, to be challenged, and to ultimately be pointed towards Jesus.
If we become a people that invites people into the wrestling of Scripture, we could see more people continue their walks with Jesus rather than walking away.
The importance of community with Scripture is emphasized by Paul in our verses today. His reminder is that we all play a crucial part in the entire body of Christ followers. And when we are in unison seeking Jesus, we can stand against the waves, winds, trickery, and craftiness of arguments that pull us away from Jesus.
My favorite section of what Paul wrote is, “... speaking the truth in love…” Our words carry more weight than we realize. The way you and I speak towards and about those in our community influences their walk with the Lord. If we belittle people, or seem boastful about our knowledge, we should not be surprised if they walk away from the church, or even worse their faith.
Speaking the truth in love means we should be able to challenge people without making them less. After all, Jesus constantly pushed against misconceptions of the Law and the way people incorrectly applied it, yet he never did it in a way that lessened the value of someone else.
The same should be true for us. Let’s walk with people in the Scriptures so we don’t wrestle alone. May we be challenged to find Jesus in every account, every testimony, and every moment of Scripture, and may we do it together as The Church and invite others to come along for the journey.
REFLECTION
● Find someone(s) that you can build relationships with and have authentic conversations about what you read in the Scriptures. Build up a safe place for questions, challenging each other, and encouraging each other.
PRAYER
Father, I am grateful that You have not designed me to handle life alone. You put so much emphasis on community because You know the influence that it can have in this world. Help me to be in the Scriptures with Your people. May I learn from them and share what You are teaching me. As we come and see, help us go and share. I pray in Your name, amen.
Port City writer Davy Nance wrote today’s devotional.