Connection

“Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful – Christian community is the final apologetic.”

- Francis Schaffer

The first step is the Gospel, Jesus has won the battle for you.

The second step is Community.

As we follow Jesus this second step is to find people who will encourage you and support you in this adventure of faith. We were created to be in real, heart-to-heart community. This connection can happen in a small group, mentoring relationship or in other micro-formats.

Every follower of Jesus should have someone whose steps they walk in - they will follow that person as they follow Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Every follower of Jesus should be a role model to others, serving as lights that will illumine the pathway for them (Philippians 2:14-16)

Connection is Key

The last night Jesus spent with His friends could have been occupied with almost anything. He could have reminisced about the good times they had spent together. He could have laid out a strategy for mission and service. He could have spent the night singing songs, praying and connecting them individually to God. Instead He spent a bulk of the evening shaping them into a new sort of community. In fact, in John 13 Jesus said that the reason He was dying was to form this new community; a group of called out people (from the Greek word Ekklesia) who would be a sneak preview of heaven. The way followers of Jesus relate to each other is supposed to give the world a taste of what God's love is like.

This concept can be mind-boggling. People from different races, with different stories, different genders and diverse economic situations come together in the church with grace, peace, love and hope. If the Gospel can accomplish this, just imagine what it could do unleashed outside the church.

The quality of our community is the real secret of Christian mission. As Francis Schaeffer wrote:

"I am convinced that in the 20th century people all over the world will not listen if we have the right doctrine, the right polity, but are not exhibiting community. There is no use saying you have community or love for each other if it does not get down into the tough stuff of life."
"Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful--Christian community is the final apologetic. (The Church at the end of the Twentieth Century)

Jesus himself said that through Christians' loving unity 'the world will know that You sent me and have loved them even as You have loved me.' (John 17:23)

Life Change Happens Best in Small Groups

The real secret of Christian growth is not to gather more information. Jesus did not educate his disciples in a classroom. Classrooms are important, but Jesus' disciples grew most by spending time with the Master. They walked together, talked together, and lived life together. Even though they sinned, failed and questioned, they remained connected to Christ.

Similarly, we have to resist the temptation to feed our souls with a diet of only sermons and books. These are important, but must be complimented by connected relationships with other followers of Jesus. These relationships will push what we know out of the realm of idea, and help biblical truths take on flesh and blood. Connection, then, is much more than "going to church" together, engaging in a few social activities and filling out a busy schedule. Connection happens when people push into real relationships. As author Larry Crabb once wrote:

When two people connect, when their beings intersect as closely as two bodies during intercourse, something is poured out of one and into the other that has power to heal the soul of its deepest wounds and restore it to health. The one who receives experiences the joy of being healed. The one who gives knows the even greater joy of being used to heal. Something good is in the heart of each of God's children that is more powerful than everything bad. It's there, waiting to be released, to work its magic. ... but it rarely happens.

Connection is the second step. Once we learn to connect, then we can begin to overflow with compassion.