What are the truest enemies of your soul? The world, the flesh, the devil? What did Jesus have in mind when He told the disciples that in this world we would have tribulation? In this world, in this temporal experience, we will all face these enemies, and much tribulation.
As those who are truly in Union with Christ, we face them together, as His people–His family, His kingdom, His temple.
It was a murderer who rashly responded to God saying “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We do not do well to take on this attitude; rather we are to be concerned for one another’s spiritual welfare “till traveling days are done.” It is not a follower of Jesus who lacks concern for his brother.
Let us keep Cain and Abel in the back of our minds while we consider our corporate union with Christ, and the peace He has called us to share in as members of one another. The question then is not “should I care for” but is rather “how shall I care for my brothers and sisters in Christ?”
We encourage one another as the day draws near.
How do we encourage? With our presence, and our conversation. We admonish one another, speaking to one another from the Word, praying with one another, and we do not allow our brothers and sisters to slink away from fellowship. We take Hebrews 4 and 10 seriously, and we draw near together.
We are able to admonish one another (Romans 15:14), and we also specifically admonish the unruly and idle. Unruly? Those disturbing the fellowship, the peace and purity of the church that gathers and shares life and shines His Light. Those who are not building up the church, who are not using their spiritual gifts for their church, who are lazy and given over to consumerism. Those who attend but do not take part.
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
1 Thessalonians 5:11-14
Shaped by His Compassion, we share it
It is in Christ’s meekness and gentleness that we urge one another along in our spiritual walk. Galatians 6: If we see anyone caught in sin, we who are Spiritual should restore such a one. When this passage speaks of burden, it is the burden of a sin–not a burden of care or worry or trauma or hard circumstances. Specifically, we who are led by the Spirit will carry our brethren to the cross. As His priests we will remind them of His words, the word of the cross. We will remind them to “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” to find mercy and grace in every time of need.
Hebrews 4, we fear lest any in our midst should fall short… We do not take for granted that everyone is ok; we care enough about whether they fall short, whether they are in Christ. We do not urge toward “fake it till you make it” or “just look the part” or “you do you.” We do not allow them to redefine the revealed Truth. We encourage them towards the cross, towards the gospel, inviting them and sharing the Word and never being ashamed of the word of the cross!
We converse on the doctrines conforming to godliness (see especially 1&2 Timothy; Deuteronomy 6&11); we walk alongside one another, praying that “the Lord cause [us] to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” (1 Thess 3:11-13)
We look to our holy God, we tremble at His Word, we treat Him as holy. We live by the Spirit, and as the Holy Spirit dwelling in us conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ (the Second Adam, rather than the image of the first Adam) we find our desires and thoughts and feelings no longer repulsed and wanting to hide, but rather we delight in and are established in His holiness. We press on, and we encourage one another to press on. Because His compassion will lead us to do so.
We heed the Word: “we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.” We heed this word together, and when we exhort one another, we exhort toward this–walking to please God and excelling still more. This means being willing to enter into conversation, asking questions, listening with Christ’s compassion. This also means seeking out conversations when we are tempted to walk our own way rather than in His.
As Kindred Spirits
We consider others, and care well for others, if we are in Christ. We will not look only to our own interests, because we have the mind of Christ–and will therefore think of the interests of others. We are kindred spirits!
To be a Christian is to be in Union with Christ, Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, with constant bold access to the Father—AND–to be in the household of faith, the family; no longer a stranger or alien but a member of God’s household (Ephesians 2:11ff).
Philippians 2:19-21 hoping to send Timothy to learn of their condition, Paul tells the Philippian church: “for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests.”
Their own… Selfishness is at the root of much disunity, and keeps many communities from thriving. To have the mind of Christ is to have His compassion, kindness, and desire to be with rather than run and hide from… or run away to be my own individual separate from…
Kindred spirit implies familial love, genuine concern; all of this is hinted at in the oneness that Jesus described in John 17.
Kindred spirits sharing our comfort
The world tells you you need to keep your mouth shut if you haven’t been through the exact same experience–that only if you have my same experience of suffering can you speak into my life. Scripture does not affirm this; rather we are instructed in so many ways to come alongside one another with Christ’s comfort–both in word and deed. We share in our union with Christ, in His Word, and in fellowship with His people.
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
John calls himself a “fellow partaker,” and so are we; in fellowship as kindred spirits, belonging to the same family, not alone but together partaking of tribulation (John 16:33 )
And partaking of the kingdom (if you are up for it, G.K. Beale has a wonderful chapter on this in his Union with the Resurrected Christ)–not as the disciples who expected an earthly kingdom to take over all other earthly kingdoms–but as yeast, spreading throughout all the earth with His goodness, awaiting the end of this earth and the dawning of the next.
And partaking of the perseverance (see this blog post!) that the Spirit works in us as we heed the Word of God (Romans 15:1-14).
We have the promises of blessing (2 Peter 1 being but one example of our promised blessings), but also the truth that in this world we have tribulation, and the reminder from last time that we ought not to be surprised that we suffer. We live life sharing, both experiences of suffering in the community of faith, our corporate identity and purpose.
We need to remind ourselves and one another that God’s Word demands that we live out our identity in Christ in communion with His people.
Our comfort is: Knowing our Union and Communion with God, and from Him receiving strength and help to persevere, to endure, to overcome, to abide. Our comfort is found in Christ, in union with Christ, in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, enjoyed as we boldly access the Father on His throne, and shared among His family. As the afflictions we undergo are common and shared, so our comfort is shared.
Do not shrink back from sharing, this is part of how we love and support one another as eagerly await His return. “Now may the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing!”
photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash