Hi guys with his permission I would like to share something JB wrote on how we should be relating to each other and to other non-christians! Hope you will find this helpful too in how we relate to each other as a YAM and to others.So what is the purpose of fellowship with other believers?
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:24-25
From the above verse, we can clearly see that the purpose of fellowship is to really encourage one another, and spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
But is that all? And what is the mindset that we should adopt? Then I recalled a sermon from John Piper, which was part of the Desiring God series, where he spoke on having The Mind of Christ: Looking out for the Interests of Others…
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” – Philippians 2:4
Indeed, we should adopt the mindset of not looking to our own interests, but in the interests of others, for that is also one way we would be motivated to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ by asking them how their walk with God is, how we can pray for them, and sharing what we learned from our own bible studies with them. IF we are only interested in our own interests, we would not be interested to find out how our brothers and sisters are, but only look to what we can gain out of fellowship, out of bible studies, and out of going to church.
But is that the mindset that we should have? What is the mindset that we should have in looking to the interests of others, and how may that interest manifest itself? John Piper asserts that the Book of Philippians gives us 4 examples to look at (my interpretations of what he presented on):
1. Jesus Christ
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!” – Philippians 2:5-8
If Jesus Christ, who is God, could humble himself to firstly become a man, and then die on the cross for the sins of man so that whoever believes in him would be given eternal life, what makes us think that we, mere human beings, can negate following this very nature of Jesus Christ in our pursuit of godliness? Therefore, we should strive to be humble in looking to the interests of others.
2. Paul
“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you” – Philippians 2:17
Paul referred to his willingness to be glad and rejoice with all of us even as his life may be poured out like a drink offering as a sacrifice in carrying out his ministry – in serving the needs of the people in the Philippians’ church as a result of their faith. The question, then is, are we willing to and be prepared for, in serving the brothers and sisters in Christ, “run and labour” (verse 16) to the point of being “poured out like a drink offering”?
That – is a big, big challenge. It would be wonderful if I could find myself even coming anywhere close to being this selfless in service. Big, big thing to think about here.
3. Timothy
“I have no one else like him (Timothy), who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.” – Philippians 2:20
If Philippians 2:4 was vague about how we should take an interest in others, 2:20 addresses that. Take a genuine interest – not to impress anyone, but out of true love and concern for our brothers and sisters. The key word here is genuine. We must take a genuine interest in serving the needs (welfare) of others, and this is a very important lesson here. At least for me, I must try to take genuine interest in the interests of my brothers and sisters in Christ – it is all too easy to sink into being superficial – the usual hi-bye and “how’s your day?” – “hmm great!” – “ok gotta run bye!” kind of superficial interest.
4. Epaphroditus
“For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.” – Philippians 2:26
Epaphroditus was one of a kind – he was distressed because the Philippians heard that he was ill! He is worrying that the people are worried! Mind blowing, isn’t it? In our times of illness and distress, how often did we long for, and are concerned about, other brothers and sisters? In our times of weakness, we must also look to be concerned about our brothers and sisters still – and not be caught up in a mentality of self-pity. There is much to be learnt in this aspect, from a man who “almost died for the work of Christ” (verse 30).
In short, we should be humble, look to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ for the whole nine yards, be genuinely interested in them, even when we are caught up in periods of distress ourselves.
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What about to the non-believing world? What is the mindset that we should adopt?
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” – Colossians 4:5-6
Colossians 4:5 points the way for us – be wise, and make the most of every opportunity to share the Gospel! Therefore, we should rightly pray for opportunities to share the gospel (and the ability to spot an opportunity when it arises), boldness to seize those opportunities, and in a manner which is loving to people.
Then, seizing the right opportunity, we should let God-talk in our conversations lead to a doorway to evangelism… “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone”… According to my NIV study bible, a conversation full of grace and seasoned with salt is a wholesome conversation, as the following verse from Ephesians suggest:
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” – Ephesians 4:29
So, speak what is helpful for building others up in Christ, according to their needs, and nothing that will cause people to stumble (e.g. “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” – Colossians 3:8)
That should be how we set ourselves apart as Christians when we meet with and speak to non-Christians – again another big, big challenge.
And hopefully, by preparing ourselves in terms of building up knowledge in the Word of God (i.e. study the Bible), praying for opportunities and the ability to seize them, and conducting ourselves with conversations which are befitting of a Christian, will we be able to share the good news of the Gospel the way God intends us for to our non-believing friends.
In conclusion, tough challenges lie ahead, looking at both meeting up with God’s family and the world. However, just as the message we heard from James today rightly reminds us of our assurance that we may be able to come before God with the righteousness of Christ given to us by the blood of Jesus, that same assurance should give us strength in tackling the tough challenges which lie ahead in furthering God’s kingdom.
Finding all the above hard to do? It is quite an iterative process really – just go back to the first verse that was quoted (Hebrews 10:24-25) and know that our brothers and sisters in Christ would be encouraging us in this journey of faith, love and good deeds.
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