DAILY BYTE
Live beyond the boxes by being accountable.
Everyone needs help. No exceptions.
While Christianity is a personal faith, it most certainly is not a private one. In fact one of the best parts about Christianity is that it brings us into a community, a family - the church.
One of society’s favourite boxes is that of individualism. We are encouraged to believe that ‘going it alone’ is somehow heroic and that to show need is to be weak.
In stark contrast to this, the Bible teaches us that there is more to life than just us and that being part of a wide and diverse community called the church is extremely important. Living beyond boxes in this case is a call to turn away from selfishness and individualism, and to embrace being involved in community.
One of the many, many reasons God invented the church is because as I have already said – everyone needs help. We need each other. As the author of Ecclesiastes suggests we are stronger when we stand together. Furthermore, if we fall down we need the help of others to gently lift us up.
Our togetherness can also result in tremendous personal growth. Belonging to a community like the church that is made of many wonderfully diverse colours, cultures and languages will almost certainly challenge us to learn from others and to deal with our prejudices.
So for all these reasons and more besides it is very important that we belong to a church, and in this way make ourselves accountable to other Christians. Letting others know our strengths and weaknesses and humbly listening to encouragement or challenge will both enrich and grow us.
Being accountable to others is also a way of living beyond the boxes in our sometimes quite selfish and individualistic society.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Lord God we give thanks to you for our communities. We recognise that as much as we ourselves are not perfect, so no community or church can be either. Forgive us for the times we harshly judge others or belittle them for their weaknesses and mistakes. Help us to be humble and become accountable to others in a way that will challenge and grow us. Help us to accept that we all need each other in this way. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
their friend can help him up.
But pity the person who falls
and has no one to help them up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
