Do Not Be a Spiritual Lone Ranger (Acts 2:42-47)
by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
[iframe http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL1CE53719A902D87B&hl=en_US 500px 500px]
No one can live alone. Every person needs to live in community with others. No Christian can be spiritual lone ranger. Every Christian needs life in fellowship with others.
When the Church in Jerusalem was founded, three thousand believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”(Acts 2:42). The number of believers had increased rapidly, yet they maintained a close fellowship life.
During that time, the Church had two kinds of fellowship life – Acts 2:46 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” The first kind is fellowship in the temple. They worshiped and praised the Lord together, somewhat like our worship services on Sundays. The second kind of fellowship is inside the believers’ homes. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts – this is an example of small group fellowship. A healthy Christian must maintain these two kinds of fellowship life.
1. Worship Life in the Church
We meet with our fellow believers and worship the Lord together in God’s house on Sundays. During worship, we acknowledge together the greatness of God’s love and mercy. These are very precious opportunities. Some people don’t go to church on Sundays, they stay at home and worship on TV or on the Internet. Is this right? If a person is sick and cannot come to church, this can be the last resort. But television and internet can never take the place of worship in God’s house with other believers.
This is because a good worship has three aspects:
1. Talking to the Lord
2. Listening to the Lord
3. Talking to others
Before worship, we must quiet ourselves, we mustn’t rush into conversations with our friends when we see each other at church. During worship, we need to listen for the Lord’s voice. After service, that is, we must no longer remain silent, this is when we converse with others; we mustn’t leave quietly without even greeting a brother or sister, becoming a spiritual lone ranger. It may seem cool to do that, but that is not an example of a good worship life.
2. Small Group Life of the Church.
A healthy church grows larger and larger, yet smaller and smaller. It grows larger in that more and more join the worship services, and this includes more and more people getting saved, lukewarm Christians becoming zealous, non-growing Christians moving towards growth. The church, in turn, becomes smaller when more and more people join the small groups of the church. When the number of church members reaches 300-400, the pastors’ role must change; if not, the church will have difficulty experiencing breakthroughs, because they will not be able to reach everyone.
We must not be a spiritual lone ranger. We must join a fellowship or small group. There must be growth in our spiritual life. Today, let us learn one thing from the Word of God, that, God does not want us to be spiritual lone rangers. God wants us to be in fellowship with other believers. This is what the Truth teaches.
I. The Example of the Lord: Our God is No Lone Ranger
Our God is the One and Only True Living God, but our God is not a lone ranger. Our God is a triune God, the Father, Son and Spirit. From everlasting to everlasting, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are in fellowship with each other. When two people are together, this is a love relationship. But when three are together, not only is there a love relationship but there is also fellowship. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit do not only love each other, they fellowship with each other.
Genesis 1:26 `Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”’ When the Triune God created man, they discussed and then decided together to create mankind in their image. Genesis 3:22 `And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”’ When man sinned, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit discussed and resolved the problem together. Our God is a God of fellowship.
We were created in the image of God. Not only do we need love deep inside of us, we also need true fellowship, just like the fellowship between the three persons in the Godhead. 1John1:3 `We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.’ There are two essential elements to true fellowship: 1. fellowship between man and God 2. fellowship between man and man. There are 4 L’s which must be present in the life of a small group: love, learn, lead, and launch.
1. Love – The small group is where love is shared. The small group is a place where love can be seen in action. We learn to love one another in the small groups. When a small group member is in need and the group does all it can to help him, they are fulfilling the purpose of a small group. Express love with concrete actions. If you are not a member of a small group, you are missing out on loving and being loved. Your life will be very dry, because it lacks love.
2. Learn – The small group is a good place for learning together. We can learn from God’s Word, we also learn from the experiences of other people. The small group is not a lunch fellowship, although we do eat together; small groups are not social get-togethers, although there is social gathering. The small group is a place where we learn the Truth. Which one can bless your spiritual life – watching a half-hour TV program or joining a half-hour small group? Of course, it is joining a small group, right?
3. Lead – The small group is a place to learn how to lead. Some people lead the singing, some lead the Bible study, some lead in prayer, some lead others to the group, in fact, we can also lead the way in helping meet the needs of brother and sisters by giving money. Leading is not only the task of the small group leader. Every member can lead; we can develop our area of gifting. The small group is a place where we find a sense of home, because where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
4. Launch – The small group is a place to launch. A small group must always be open to new people joining in. In this way, a small group maintains a dynamic life. We must remember `only flowing water will not stink’, water that is not flowing will turn stale.
These 4L’s pertain to the fellowship between man and man, and the fellowship between man and God. When we join a small group, we will discover these wonders and you will no longer feel compelled to attend. Instead, you will long for your small group fellowship, just like the wonderful fellowship between God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Do we not say we want to be like Christ? Christ was not a lone ranger, neither can we be a spiritual lone ranger.
II. God’s Word: It is Not Good for Man to be Alone
Genesis 2:18 `The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”’ This is a very well-known verse that is often quoted in weddings. The Lord used six days to create the world, and every day the Lord said: It is good. But in Genesis 2:18, suddenly the Lord says: It is not good. What was not good? The Lord said it is not good for man to be alone.
We must understand it was not the creation of Adam that was not good, Adam was good. In fact, he was very intelligent. After God created Adam, the Lord gave him the work of taking care of the Garden of Eden, and naming the animals. These two tasks were no easy tasks. To work and take care of Eden was no easy task. We say: It is difficult to start a business, but it is even harder to sustain it. Adam had to start it and he was responsible for its upkeep. It was truly not easy. Neither was it easy to name the animals. Not only did he need wisdom, he also needed a good memory.
I know a brother in Hong Kong whose name was Tan–E. He was the first among seven siblings. His name meant one, and his siblings’ names were two, three, four, five, six and seven. At first, I thought he was joking, but it turned out this was not a joke. His father found it difficult to think of names for them, so to make it easier he named them by numbering them according to the order of their birth. That Adam was able to give each animal a name proves that Adam was very intelligent.
But the Lord said it is not good for man to be alone. Why do people get married? There are three reasons why people marry:
1. To establish a loving family
2. To establish a family that serves God
3. To establish a caring family.
1. A family is a place of love. A home is where we experience love: love between a husband and a wife, love between parents and children, love between siblings.
2. A family is a place where we serve God. Joshua said: As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. When you establish a family and have children, do not forget to serve the Lord. Sometimes, when we have children, we set aside our ministries for the Lord. I acknowledge that while our children are small, we become very busy indeed; we may let go of some ministries, but we must not use our children as an excuse to stop serving God. God’s purpose in giving us children is so that the whole family will serve the Lord.
3. The home is where we care for each other. Especially during old age, children must remember to care for their parents. Couples must continue to love and care for each other. It is really pitiful to be alone during one’s old age.
The church is our eternal home. Psalm 68:5-6 “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads fort the prisoners with singing.” There are three groups of people mentioned in the verse:
1. Orphans
2. Widows
3. Lonely people.
The Lord established a spiritual family so that people who lack love will find love, the oppressed will find justice, the lonely will find companions. When you don’t join small groups, you lose the pleasure of having spiritual companions, and you will have to take your spiritual journey all alone. It is indeed not good to be a spiritual lone ranger. Every man longs to have friends who will understand us and care for us.
We have all read “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”. It is the story of a man who survives on an island alone for 24 years. In the latter part of the story, however, a man named Friday appeared. Because Robinson also needed a friend, the author added the character of Friday to the story.
A film entitled “Cast Away” tells the story of an employee of Federal Express whose plane run into trouble and crashed on an island. He survived his ordeal because of three reasons: 1. a picture of his girlfriend 2. a ball 3. a package. When he felt hopeless, he would look at the picture of his girlfriend, because love gave him hope to continue on. The ball, which he painted with eyes, ears, nose and mouth, represented a person to whom he could talk to daily. This filled his need for companionship. It is a pitiful man who has no one to journey with him through life’s difficulties. The unopened package represented his duty. Being a Fedex employee, he had the responsibility of delivering the package. No matter how much difficulties he faced, he wouldn’t open the package, for this package reminded him he had unfinished responsibility, that he mustn’t give up while he still has unfinished responsibility. Love, Companionship, Commitment – these were his motivations for survival. Why do we need to join small groups? It is not good for man to be alone. We need companions.
III. Revelation of the Holy Spirit: Two are Better Than One
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” The author of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon. But we know that the Bible is God-breathed. The true author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. This is not a book written by men, but was breathed by the Spirit of God. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 tells us there are four reasons why two are better than one.
A. Share with Each Other
Is there any difference when a man eats alone and when he eats with a group of friends? Nothing tastes good when a man eats alone. But with friends, the food becomes specially good. The food is not the question here, but one’s feelings. Why do we invite guests to weddings? Because when our guests come and rejoice with us, our joy doubles. Two are better than one because two share in the return of their labor. This is the beauty of fellowship – when you join small groups, you will have friends and people to share your joys and success with.
B. Support Each Other
“If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” There is no one on earth who never falls. Successful people are people who have fallen yet stood back up. Small group is a place where we find support. When others have needs, you do your best to help them; when you are the one in need, others do their utmost to help you. The small group is where we support one another.
C. Take Care of Each Other
“Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?”
Have you ever heard of “The Story of the Porcupines”? A group of porcupines lived together. Whenever winter approaches, they would draw near each other to keep warm, but because of the needles on their bodies, they need to keep a safe distance from each other. On one hand, they give each other warmth, but on the other hand, they do not prick each other. This is what life in the small group should be like. There must be mutual care and concern, you give me warmth, I give you warmth; but do not become too familiar, and encroach on one another’s personal boundaries and cause conflicts.
When we join small groups, there are areas of which we must keep a safe distance, areas which we must protect – such as relational distance between male and female, and in the area of money matters – if we do not, sooner or later, trouble will occur. Keeping a safe distance, but showing concern for one another, this is a good small group life.
D. Rely on Each Other
The redwood tree is the tallest tree in the world. They can live to 800-1000 year old, grow to a height of 300 feet, as tall as 20-30 storey high buildings. They need a lot of water, but their roots are often very short. And this can become a problem – a very tall tree and shallow roots can topple down easily. But the redwood trees don’t fall because they live together in clusters. A group of seven to eight trees would grow together and their roots are entwined together. Giving support to each other, the trees stand strong and tall. This is the beauty of fellowship in small groups. In small groups, we rely on each other. When I face difficulties, I can lean on you; when you experience difficulties, I can lean on you. When we can lean on one another, neither difficulties nor enemies can easily fell us.
The greatest apostle in the New Testament is Paul. Paul’s gifts, skills, and spiritual fervor were extraordinary. But Paul did not live as a spiritual lone ranger. At the beginning of his missionary journeys, he had a good co-worker named Barnabas. They were a team.
Later on, because of Mark, they separated, but the Bible records that Paul brought Silas, while Barnabas brought Mark to their missionary journeys. They didn’t go out alone. According to the Truth, there can be no such thing as a spiritual lone ranger. In his old age, Paul wrote in 2Tim 4:11 “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” Luke never left Paul; Paul always had friends with him. In his old age, Paul requested for Mark because he was helpful in his ministry. Paul never ceased to have a life of fellowship with his fellow believers. He always had brothers and sisters around him. If Paul needed to be in small groups, what reason do we have to not join one?