Reconciliation.Cafe

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. – Hebrews‬ ‭10:24-25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Resist the urge to sever the connection, cut ties, and go at it alone in this life.  We weren’t meant for isolation. 

Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you fulfill the Torah of Messiah. – Galatians‬ ‭6:2‬ ‭TLV‬‬

You need a local body. No matter how messy you think it is to get close to others. It can be down-right nasty and painful. I get it. But life in a healthy humble community is a life-source.  A spring in a dry wasteland. 

You don’t think Jesus felt like he was different than those around Him? I’m pretty sure He knew what it felt like to be an outsider looking in, in the culture around Him. Yet He still surrounded Himself with a few of us. The least of these; the outcasts, in all of our nastiness at times. He continued to press in to the bonds of relationship. He modeled it to perfection, in far-from-perfect conditions. 

He was more than intentional in all of His relationships. We so easily throw our hands up and say “it’s too much”. “I’m not trying anymore.” Resist the urge to make someone else do ALL the work, just because you don’t want to do any, anymore. 

You need a community of fellow-believers; a not-for-gain brotherhood, whose only interest is for the well-being of everyone. A community that celebrates growth in everyone. Every baby step of progress is resounded with a “Yes! You got this!” On the flip-side, every step backward should be met with a “that’s not who you are anymore! The old is gone the new has come!” To live in and be a part of a truly healthy community, celebration and accountability go hand-in-hand. It’s hard to fully understand the high of celebration without having felt the sting of accountability. In community, its a collective feeling, and it’s totally worth it. 

Two are better than one, because they get a good return for their effort. For if they fall, the one will lift up his companion. But oy to the one who falls and has no one to lift him up! Furthermore, if two lie together, then they will be warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though a man might overpower one, two can stand against him. Moreover a threefold cord cannot be quickly broken. – Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4:9-12‬ ‭TLV‬‬

The world around us wants us to “blaze your own trail”. But your trail is bound to cross paths with the trail of others. There are moments on this road, where journeying together is the only option for the terrain. Even ships need a crew, as to not be swallowed up by the sea. 

Evaluate the people you surround yourself with. Do they love you unconditionally, or at least working toward it? What fruit do they bear? Do they genuinely want to see you grow, succeed, be happy? Or are you a means, a stepping stone, to elevate themselves? Do they see you as a competitor in life’s highs and lows? Do your people cheerlead you or do they champion you? 

How would your community answer these questions about you?

When you find yourself in a “get-ahead” mentality with your relationships, it’s time to re-evaluate, re-center, renew what it means to love and be loved unconditionally. 

Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not brag, it is not puffed up, it does not behave inappropriately, it does not seek its own way, it is not provoked, it keeps no account of wrong, it does not rejoice over injustice but rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. – 1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-7‬ ‭TLV‬‬

Jesus withdrew to get alone with the Father. You see, we live in a community, but we abide in Father God. Jesus understands this, and even modeled this on earth. To follow Him, is to live like Him. Not only in words, but in practice. And practice includes the miraculous AND the mundane.

Your church isn’t a substitute for a personal relationship with God through Jesus. Your church is how you display the “unity” Jesus prayed for, for His followers.

…that they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory that You have given to Me I have given to them, that they may be one just as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me. – John‬ ‭17:21-23‬ ‭TLV‬‬

The world is to be so amazed with how well we love each other, that they will know Jesus is the real deal. We can’t fulfill this, living in isolation. 

People are messy. Love them anyway. It’s commanded.

People are worth it. Jesus thinks so. Even unto death.

Unity is a process, whose length hinges on your level of connectivity.