We need each other

Depending on how it is used, the word need is often a word that we do not like to be associated with because simply put: No one wants to be in need. For many, in a perfect world they would be self-sufficient, have everything that they need, and if they ever had to depend on anybody it would be members of their family or loved one’s. No one ever wants to be in a situation where they need help, neither do we ever want to be described as needy. Some even go as far as denying that they need help even when that much is clear.

In any case the irony of it all resides in the stickling truth that as human beings we come needy by default. We are already in need of salvation at the moment we are born, and even when we are saved we need to reach out and touch our brothers and sisters in the lord. We need to reach out and touch the world; for their sake and for ours.

That is what I want to talk about.

That at one point or another we need other people for earthly things is a truth that I think is quickly dispensed to us in ever-increasing doses by circumstances in life. People who have not come to terms with this fact are either delusional or have already made a comfortable home for themselves in a fools paradise. No, I think most people realize that from time to time we all need help. What I think is not as clear however, or perhaps has lost it’s potency in this current generation is the fact that as Christians we n-e-e-d each other, and we n-e-e-d to reach out and touch the world. Not just the Christians we know who also happen to be our friends, but every single brother and sister in Christ, and every single person within our ever changing circle of influence who happen to be in need of salvation.

PRIDE & PRIVACY

Two of the greatest obstacles to us reaching out, meeting and interacting with brand new people are two fold:

1) Privacy
2) Pride

PRIVACY
I think that anyone who reads Christian Perspective can immediately tell that I share a lot about myself, and sometimes I am amazed at the things that God draws out of me and lets me share with the world. I share these things because God has made me see that every aspect of our lives, even the one’s we consider private, are open to be used to the glory of his name. God wants to use everything that we’ve been through: Our pain, disappointments, strengths, weaknesses, hopes and dreams. You name it and God can use it to the glory of his name.

But I was not always like this. Like a lot of people I used to take pride in the fact that I was “a private person”. My sense of privacy could even be traced back to when I was a boy. Ask any of my siblings and they would tell you that sometimes I would play my own games and keep to myself. And so as I grew and came to know Jehovah with a mature mind, this deep sense of privacy translated itself into my Christianity. Many of us have been there. I thought that it was enough to read my bible everyday, pray, don’t do anything bad during the week and go to Church on Sunday. That to me was the winning formula. The formula that I thought would allow me to give God all the glory, live my life in peace without getting into the messy affair of other peoples business, or worse yet, have them encroach upon mine.
A lot of us are that way. We don’t get involved with strangers on a deep level or get involved in church because we like to mind our business, don’t have time, don’t trust people etc. We don’t want to get involved. How involved are you in the lives of people? Jesus Got involved.

Now we might think to ourselves “I am not Jesus. He’s the savior of the world; of course he had to get involved with people”. But Christ is the ultimate model upon which we ought to live our lives, and he has commanded us to “Go into the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” Mark 16:15.

PRIDE

Another obstacle to Christians getting involved with each other is pride. We all have issues with pride in one form or another. My brothers and sisters pride is a very wicked thing. Wicked because it has a way of wrapping itself around us like a python around its prey. And once the spirit of pride takes hold of you, it begins to squeeze away. Pride is dangerous because it is oh so difficult to identify, and here are some reasons why:

Ø A person can be humble in so many aspects of their life but prideful in one thing. The pride gets hidden amidst the numerous examples of extreme humility.

Ø Pride has come to be a good thing. We hear it all the time. Pride and strength somehow have come to go hand in hand (I don’t know how, humility I think is the ultimate example of strength). You hear phrases like “The few, the proud, the marines”, “He is a proud, strong man”, “She stood up for her rights because she has a sense of pride”.

Ø Pride is not an act, but the impetus for the act. So pride in and of itself is technically not an action that can be identified, but it shows its fruits through our actions.

I could go on, but the truth remains that our pride often gets in the way of us getting involved with other Christians or people in need of the good news of the cross. We are quick to cut off people who do us wrong, become less tolerant of other people’s faults etc.

But there is a story in the bible that highlights our need for each other, the folly of pride, and the realization that we cannot afford to judge each other to harshly because God uses what appears to be a wrong done to us to the glory of his name.

It is the story of Joseph in the bible.

In Genesis chapter 37, the bible tells us that Jacob loved his son Joseph more than all his other children because he was the son of his old age. And so he made Joseph a coat of many colors. The bible says that when Josephs brothers saw this they hated him and could not look peaceably upon him.

But Joseph also dreamed. He dreamt that that he was in a field binding sheaves, and all his brothers sheaves bowed down before his. He also dreamt that the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to him.

You see my friends a lot of times when people are doing or saying things that we do not like or want to hear, It is easy to get offended. But what may appear wrong to us might be God working his work. And so Joseph’s brothers plotted against him.
One day when his father Jacob sent him to check on his brothers in the field, they saw him coming and plotted to kill him. The bible tells us that they threw him into a pit, and since they did not want to have their brothers blood on their hands they instead sold him into slavery. They smeared his cloak with the blood of a goat and told their father Jacob that Joseph had been killed.



Jacobs brothers sold him to slave traders headed to the land of Egypt

This is an example of a family that did not recognize that they needed each other, and so they sold their brother. But on the other hand, this was God doing his work because many years later when Joseph would have attained a high position in Egypt, he would save his family and people from the Famine that had come upon them.
These are Josephs words to his brothers when he revealed himself to them in the land of Egypt:

Joseph said to his brothers “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But when his brothers heard this, they were so terrified that they could not answer. Then Joseph said to them “Please come closer.” They did, and he said “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people’s lives.” Genesis 45. 3:6

My friends I tell you this powerful story because just like Joseph and his brothers, we are one family- In Christ. I want you to see that even though at times people may annoy us, or get on our nerves we cannot afford to discard people. And everytime we turn our back on a chance to talk to someone about the awesome glory of God, we are in effect allowing them to remain in slavery; because sin is slavery. . Also, we will begin to experience the powerful power of forgiveness in our lives when we realize that when people hurt us, it could be to the fulfilling of a greater promise in our lives (What the world means for evil, God uses for good).

So I need you. I need you because I need God, and the glory of God shines through people (Jesus says that when we show kindness to those in need, we show kindness to him) I need you because when I speak to you I am encouraged, I need you because when I pray for you I am blessed. I need you because we are part of a flock and Jesus is the Shepard. A Sheep isolated is already lost.

And I need to touch the world. I cannot expect Jesus to come again in the body of a man, to do again what he has instructed us to do. I need to touch the world because of love. God loves everyone in this world, and he wants every soul saved.

My friends let us ask the lord to give us a desire for him that manifests itself in a desire for Gods people. It is a just request that he will be delighted to grant us.

I am excited about all of you that I know, and all those I am yet to meet. I am excited about all of the lives I am yet to touch. Not just for their sake; but for mine as well for the lord has revealed this to me: 1 Timothy 4:16.

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them : for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee”.

To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.