Not Cut Out to be Alone

I hope you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  I hope you have time in your week to spend time alone with Jesus.  I pray that you do know that Jesus died for you personally.

However, too often in our individualistic culture forget that while Jesus died for us individually and personally He did so to bring us together as His Church.

"As you come to Him, the living Stone... rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him... you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4-5

Peter calls Christians living stones that are being built into a spiritual house.  Stones are cut out from rocks and shaped into blocks for the express purpose of being used for building.  A stone, like you and I, must be molded and chiseled and smoothed out by the craftsman before it is of any good.  There is some truth to be gleaned from this imagery.  God will make us into what He needs us to be for His building project.

There is a lot in the metaphor Peter uses but what I want to focus on today is this:

We weren't cut out to be alone.

While we have a personal relationship with Jesus.  While Jesus is my Lord, He is not mine alone.  God sent Jesus to redeem His Church.  God the Father crushed His Son to purchase individuals that come together to collectively be this spiritual house, this body, this bride.  We are not meant to do this alone.  In fact, doing it alone is against the purposes of the Gospel.

So, how do we do this in the age of Youtube sermons from our favorite pastors in our living rooms, radio stations playing the top worship songs in our cars and podcasts of our most favorite teachers on our phones alone in our easy chairs?  In an age of individualism and isolation, an age of über-connection yet physical solitude, how do we live as living stones being built into a spiritual house?

I believe we do this best in the local church.  Until the Church universal can be in one place at one time (and I look forward to that day) we best follow the Bible's design for us in the local church.  Yes, we could kind of do this in informal gatherings with other believers, but we do it best in an organized local church.

I say organized local church because stones are meant to be assembled in an organized fashion.  Anyone constructing a building will have plans for how that building will be assembled.  Jesus is no different.  We were left with all sorts of plans for how we living stones are to assemble.  We are given a good hierarchy in the Scriptures that has plenty of wiggle room for various style preferences and cultures.  We are given the offices of elder and deacon.  We are given different giftings of people that will be present in the local church.

See, the organization of the local church: the deacons, elders, pastors, teachers, etc is a good thing.  Men and women assembled together in an organized fashion (i.e. church constitutions and mission statements) better reflect the glory of our God of Order (1 Corinthians 14:33).

Christians, we were not cut out to be alone.  We are chosen by God to be together rubbing shoulders as stones in a spiritual house.  So, join a local church.  Get involved in being part of something larger than yourself.  Live as a living stone being built into a spiritual house by the Master Craftsman today.