Connection Relationally

Paul tells us, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ". (I Corinthians 12:12)

So the image in scripture to help us understand God’s nature as well as the nature that the church should have, is the human body. The church globally is His (Christ’s) Body and He Himself is the Head, "and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God". (Colossians 2:19)

So when you think about the function of our human bodies, all our bodies do is to carry out the desires and demands of the brain. Our feet take us where our brain wants to go, our eyes gaze upon things that our brain needs to see, etc. The church is a spiritual body that exists to carry out the purposes of the Head (Christ), apart from this the church has no purpose. Everything that the church does should be rooted and grounded in the very nature and purpose of God.

In John 16:13-15 Jesus reveals some important things about the Godhead (Trinity) The three persons, the Father, Son and Spirit work in perfect unity with one another. They are interdependent meaning that one Person of the Godhead does not nor cannot perform His duty without the other two. Acts 2:46 reveals this very nature of God in the early church. "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart".

Now we can see that the foundation of Christian Community which the early church practiced daily is a direct reflection of who God is. For the church to come in line with the nature and purpose of the Head (Christ), His Body must also practice the life of interdependency like God and the early church. However, this is not to be the focus of the church.

Matthew 18:20 reveals the focus that we should have when we meet. "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them". Jesus Christ is the focus! To meet in the name of Jesus means that Jesus is living through the people and moving through them to minister to one another. When a group of believers meets in His name, He becomes the agenda. We should never meet in the name of Bible study, intercessory prayer, etc. The principle of His presences is what allows the church to be relational with God and one another. When two or three gather in the name of Jesus, no matter how large or small the group, He comes to life in the group. This is connecting relationally to God and one another. Without His empowering presence all the church has is more laws, rules and regulations which reduces God from being relational towards His people to being instructional only.

Israel is a great example of this. The Law was given to Israel as a covenant established by God with His people. The 10 commandments are actually 10 ways that the people of God were to relate to Him and one another as a nation. All 10 commandments were given from God to be relational not instructional. But because Israel saw the commandments as instructions only, they never responded to God in a relational way. 1500 years of Israel's History reveals this.

Today the church is not to far away from repeating Israel's behavior toward God and one another. The only way that we can combat these attitudes towards God and one another is to address our personal values and adjust them to Kingdom values. When Jesus said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness"... He was assaulting the values that we hold on to that thwart our relationship with Him and one another. He wants to exchange our worldly values for His kingdom values. This places the focus on Him and His agenda which frees the church to truly relate to Him and one another. Kingdom values flow out of the presence of the King who in turn empowers His people to live out the values of His Kingdom ergo, connecting relationally and not instructionally with God and one another.