“Don’t go it alone” is a phrase I’ve heard since childhood, and I never really appreciated its importance until I became an adult. From the beginning, we see that we were not meant to do life alone. When God created Adam, God said, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18, NKJV). From the beginning, we see that God did not create us to go through this life alone. In this day and age, when many people promote an individualistic approach to life and pride themselves on not needing others, how should we as Christians respond and conduct ourselves?
As an introvert, I have a tendency to “go it alone,” and it’s something I am continually trying to change. There is nothing inherently wrong with being introverted, but I’ve found that my tendency to keep to myself can sometimes hinder my ability to build deeper friendships and freely give and receive love, support, and encouragement. I’ve come to see that being in community makes life so much richer, and helping others and knowing there are people around willing to help me is such an invaluable feeling.
What the Early Church Teaches Us About Community
Scripture gives us a powerful example of how the early church demonstrated a strong community with one another. Acts 4:32-35 describes how united the believers of the first church were: they were “of one soul and one heart…” (4:32). Because of this, they were able to share every single one of their possessions, and no one lacked. While this may be considered a radical form of community and may not feel feasible in our context to some, I believe we can take from their example and strive to be more united with our own communities of believers. They all had a shared belief which united them, and thus they built this strong community through sacrifice.
Loving Like Jesus
Jesus says in John 15:13 (NKJV), “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Although many of us may never find ourselves in a situation where we would have to lay down our lives for someone else, this verse tells us that the highest degree of love we can show one another is through sacrifice. Jesus Christ, by laying down His life for all of humanity – including the very people who crucified Him – demonstrated the greatest love: unselfish, sacrificial love.
Christ’s sacrificial love for us is the greatest example of how we should love others, and because of His sacrifice, we can now be grafted into the body of Christ. As members of His body, Jesus wills that we be united with one another, loving each other as we love ourselves. In His prayer to God the Father, just before He was taken to be crucified, Jesus prayed, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20-21, NIV).
How to Build Christian Community in Everyday Life
So how can we pursue this kind of unity in our everyday lives? We can demonstrate love through sacrifice by giving up time, resources, and energy for the people around us, without any gain or expectation of reciprocity. And we should also be willing to accept these things from others. On top of this, by being rooted in church community, praying for one another, receiving prayer from others, encouraging others in the Word, and being intentional in our friendships, we can build richer relationships with those around us and be better equipped to live out our faith as God intended.
Pursuing the kind of unity Jesus wills for us begins with acknowledging that we were never meant to navigate this life alone, and praise God we don’t have to. I pray that God removes any tendency we may have to rely too heavily on ourselves. I pray that the Lord increases our humility and courage, so we can enter community with others and be more willing to be sacrificial. I also pray the Lord heals any past hurt experienced from friends or community and gives us the grace to love and trust fully.
