June the 21st!
As June the 21st approaches - the day when the UK Government have planned to remove all legal restrictions - it's appropriate to remind ourselves why Christians must meet up in person. Why online is not enough.
#1 God has created us social creatures
The first reason is a universal one, true for believer and for non-believer. We were made in the image of a Social God. God has never been lonely. Before he created any other beings, whether angels or humans, he enjoyed perfect communion with himself, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We catch some of that loving communication in John's Gospel, where the Father and Son are in constant conversation with one another.
Since we have been made in God's image, we have been made social beings who are designed to be in relationship with others. God's words about Adam, "it is not good that man should be alone" were a universal stamement of his design for mankind, not merely a footnote about marriage.
#2 We do not have all the gifts
The second reason, still staying with the image of God, and still applicable to believer and non-believer is that none of us have all the gifts we need to survive. The theologians talk about the 'economic Trinity' by which they mean that the differing works of the Three glorious Divine Persons all compliment one another. In the work of salvation, for example, The Father sends the Son, the Son comes into the world and bears away our sins and the Holy Spirit makes the work of salvation effective by changing our hearts. The Father did not take away our sins, the Holy Spirit did not send the Son. The Three glorious Divine Persons each played a different and complimentary role in the salvation of sinners.
In a faint echo of the economic Trinity, we need the co-operation and help of others. In the same way that Adam was 'incomplete' so each one of us lacks what another can supply.
In church terms we are given the New Testament image of the church as a body, where each one of us is only one part, needing the other parts. A foot cannot see, so it needs an eye. An eye cannot walk, so it needs a foot.
The sooner we realise our desparate need for one another, the more we will give ourselves wholeheartedly to fellowship.
Should we not say here that in fellowship we mature into the likeness of Christ? And should we not issue a warning that outside of fellowship we can so easily drift towards oddness and strangeness?
#3 God sets the example - he wants fellowship
A third reason we need fellowship is the very example of God. God who is self-sufficient, the fount of his own existence and love, nevertheless wants to be with people!
In the garden of Eden God walked with Adam in the cool of the day, so visible that Adam and Eve could hide from him (or so they thought!)
When mankind was cast out of God's visible presence, God still wanted to be with people and gave the command to Moses, “Have them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them.”(Exodus 25:8)
And then God sent his Son, Immanuel, God with us, to live among us. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)
God himself sets the example! he wants to be in fellowship with us, and has paid the ultimate price for this to become a reality. Through the death of his Son he has reconciled us to himself.
If God wants fellowship, because he is love, then surely the redeemed should follow his example.
#4 Jesus commands us to meet
Let's move now to more specifically Christian reasons for meeting. Jesus commands us to meet. By his Spirit, he inspired the writer of Hebrews with these words, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing" (Hebrews 10:25). If we had no other Scripture on this matter, this one would suffice. Jesus our Saviour commands us to meet up! He commands us not to get out of the habit. And more...
#5 Meeting is not just about ourselves!
...the Spirit-inspired writer goes on to remind us that when we meet we encourage one another. Yes, we meet for our own well-being, benefit and blessing. But we also meet for the benefit of others:
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The clear implication is that when we meet up, our mere presence encourages others. We may not even speak to them! They may only see us in the other corner of the room! And yet our mere presence encourages. Is it not also true that our mere absence discourages?
#6 There is blessing in meeting together
The Garden has gone, so too the temple. Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. But now his Spirit dwells in each one of us, so that we each on our own can be called a temple. But when we meet together, Jesus promises to be with us in a special way. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) Yes, the Lord Jesus is with us when we are on our own, but he is particularly and especially with his gathered people.
Do we want the blessing of Christ's presence? Then we must meet with one another!
#7 A Foretaste of Heaven
Our final reason for meeting is that fellowship is a foretaste of heaven. Heaven is filled with people, “a great multitude no-one can count, from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)
We shall be perfected. "We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). As we have fellowship with one another in that city of light we shall catch a glimpse in the faces of one another of the reflected glory of Jesus Christ.
Heaven is not a desert island, its a city filled with people. And as we enjoy fellowship here below we are catching a glimpse of glory to come.
Put together, these reasons provide a compelling case for the absolute necesity of Christian fellowship. We need fellowship as a plant needs rain and sun. Without it we shall never mature into the likeness and beauty of Christ. With it we do.
