Eagerly Participate in Spiritual Community

Here we are at our third lesson from Numbers Chapter 9: Eagerly Participate in Spiritual Community.

“Why should we be kept from presenting the Lord’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?” the unclean brothers asked. They saw the Passover offering as the privilege that it was. They valued community. How does your life reflect the degree to which you value community?
Today, many worship alone. The value of the community has been reduced over time. But the epistles were written to churches. We are to serve each other with our gifts. God called us to be part of His body. Jesus established community by His life, death and ascension. We need to be a part of a local church to function as a part of the body of Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 12) It is a right, privilege and responsibility to be a part of the body. It is not always easy; there are issues that will need to be worked out. But serving in the local church alongside other believers is how we grow spiritually, share the love of Christ and show that we are disciples. It is the local church that reaches others for Christ, reflecting love for others to see and desire. God’s answer to Moses allowed for the unclean people to celebrate Passover together at another time. This would be a festival celebrating not only the Passover but also a God who cares about our situations. Though a small group, it will still reflect community.

Are you part of a spiritual community? How do you serve in your spiritual community? It is not enough to just attend. Are you active in inviting neighbors, coworkers, family members and others to visit and join your local church? If you are not part of a spiritual community, why aren’t you? Were you ever? If you do not serve in your spiritual community, why don’t you? Ephesians 4:16 says, "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." We hurt the body when we withdraw and do not participate.  Lack of involvement also hurts us.  It is in community that we can thrive.

Pray over your opportunities to worship God with a group and function as part of the body of Christ. Ask God to lead you to the right local church if you don’t currently attend. Ask God to show you how you can serve in your spiritual community. Ask God to give you opportunities to reach others for Him and invite them to your church.

Being a part of a spiritual community is a vital part of our spiritual walk. Do not delay in praying diligently for God’s guiding regarding a local church, service and evangelism. The gospel of Matthew ends with the Great Commission: “Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" We need a spiritual community to carry out this commission. (Matthew 28:18-20)

So, in Numbers 9, an exception was made for those who were unclean to celebrate the Passover. These people had come in contact with a dead body. We are not given the details of their relationship to the deceased or what had happened. God also added, “But if anyone who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to celebrate the Passover, they must be cut off from their people for not presenting the Lord’s offering at the appointed time. They will bear the consequences of their sin.” This additional provision falls into what we were already considering about community. Here anyone who does not join the community is no longer a part of the community. For a Hebrew, fellowship with his people was vital. If someone took that fellowship for granted or neglected to assemble for selfish reasons, they could lose the privilege of being part of a community. Even in Jesus’ time, the formerly blind man’s parents would not even claim their own son in John 9 because they might be put out of the spiritual community. Their membership in the synagogue was that important to them. (Now this is an example of wrong priorities, but they did value community.) Today’s believers don’t really live in fear of being put out of the local church, but there are instances when people do not feel accepted or welcomed. We have a responsibility in the church to be loving, welcoming and forgiving; to build our community and glorify our Father in heaven so that we all long to go to church and worship God communally.

While personal growth in the Lord is vitally important, we are made for community. Our walk in the Spirit is truly lived out in community. How can we serve others without community? How can others come alongside us without community? We grow, learn and share in spiritual community; it is instrumental to our faith.