- For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone -
Both of our verses speak to the idea of unknown future suffering.
The first verse speaks about when our own flesh fails. Something causes us to stumble or perhaps our foolishness causes us to gaffe in front of others.
You will need friends during that time, others who can pick you up from the ground and give you a shoulder to lean against.
If you fall alone, a treatable injury may spiral into something far worse, even into death.
The second verse speaks to the need to survive against nature. She doesn’t care if it’s too cold out.
So, you have to struggle for your survival against her. We don’t experience that in the starkest of realities today, but we definitely can experience her that way.
The power going out in even some 1st world countries can be deadly in the right month of the year. Not to mention the real possibility of one being stranded.
When nature comes, you don’t want to be alone. You need a friend nearby or you’ll shiver alone in the snowbank.
That’s all well and good. Completely understandable and reasonable.
Yet a tad foreign to how most of our lives will play out.
In fact, today, it’s completely possible to be absolutely alone in your own island of technology, working from home, and uber deliveries.
Why ever leave? Why ever need anyone else? You can have all your needs filled independently.
The nonsense in this is obvious. Heart attacks come for everyone. It doesn’t matter how attractive you make your lifestyle.
But I want to talk about something different. I want to discuss how this relates to Christians specifically.
I want to talk about the church.
A while back, a gave a sermon on Ephesians 4:1-3. They’re critical verses I believe when it comes to understanding the Great Commission.
Despite what you may think, the Great Commission is more than an evangelistic call. It is a call to make disciples.
What are disciples? Great question. They are those people who both know the Scriptures and how to apply it to their life.
Why do they do that? Well similar to how the trinity is one and supports itself, believers are called to do the same, i.e. to be a representation of the oneness of God.
How do they do that? They use their spiritual gifts as given to them by the grace of God.
Now, a spiritual gift is the part of you that gets the least in the way of God. You might even call it the weakest part of you that Jesus can take over.
One of the goals to discipleship is to grow this spiritual gift so that the body of Christ can grow stronger together.
That requires those in authority to disciple others. It’s difficult to learn when you can’t figure out the proper way to act by any other way than trial and error.
When the body is full of disciples united and serving one another with their spiritual gifs, then when the vicissitudes of life strike, they can support one another.
Are you living this out? Is your church?
If the answer to both is no, pray to God for the strength and guidance on how to change either yourself, the church, or both.
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