ONE ANOTHER

Have you heard any teaching about the “one another’s” in the New Testament lately? Come to think about it, have you ever heard any teaching about the “one another’s?”

If you haven’t that is strange as the New Testament is full of one another’s. Take for example we are told to “love one another” in Romans 13: 8-10. We are told to “edify one another” in Romans 14:19. In Galatians 5:13 we are told to “serve one another” and in 1 Peter 4: 9 we are told to “show hospitality to one another”. In 1 John 1:7 we are told to have “fellowship with one another”. There are about 20 more “one another’s”.

If we spent our time doing what the scripture says to do, loving, edifying, serving, showing hospitality and having fellowship with each other, we wouldn’t have much time for things that don’t matter. Doing all these things and more, would take up all our time and energy. It would not only build the body of Christ and help make others feel accepted and strong, we would ourselves benefit from giving ourselves away to other people.

We certainly would not have time to sing songs, have our weekly religious snack, listen to irrelevant sermons, hold dead end bible studies, volunteer for car park duty or take up the offering.

We would be so engrossed with the needs of others and taking every opportunity to bless them that religious rituals would become totally meaningless. I mean, what is more real than being hospitable, opening your home so that others in the fellowship can join you in a heart-warming meal and ‘get to know you’ fellowship.

So much of what we do in so called “church” rather than inspiring us to fulfil the “one another’s” keep us from “one another”. All we see in the meetings is the backs of heads, we have a cursory greeting before during or after the meeting, we listen to one person telling us what we should do, or not do, some might share a cup of tea and then we go home, in many cases, never to see each other again until the following Sunday morning.

No where does it say in the New Testament to attend a religious meeting on Sunday morning, sing a few songs, have a religious snack and listen to someone tell you what to do. It does tell you however, to love one another, have meals together, fellowship with each other and serve each other.

When was the last time you did any or all these things? If your church doesn’t place any importance on these things, why don’t you ask the leadership to have a “one another” month so that you can begin to do all these things and forget the religious rituals for a while so that you can get some reality into your corporate Christian experience and so that you can experience something of New Testament life.

God will bless you if you do because he has told us to do these things in his word.