To Encourage You

1 Peter 3:8 “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”

The Christian’s life is not the life of a loner.  It’s never to be lived with the attitude of “do your own thing,” or “to each his own.”  It’s a life that is demonstrated in relationships with other believers. It’s a oneness that elicits from a shared experience, a shared purpose, and a shared Spirit.  We see this in Scriptures such as the verse above from 1 Peter 3 which commands believers to live a life of unity in about every way that true Christian unity can possibly be expressed.  

In Ephesians 4:4-6 we see the reason for such unity; this oneness that those outside of the faith can never know: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”  All of these things are unique to Christians, and they are things that bind Christians together to the extent that Jesus called His followers a “body.”  

Listen to how this body is described in 1 Corinthians 12:14-27: “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” 

In short, the message of Christ to those who claim to follow Him is “you need each other. You are indispensable to each other.” And why is this, because this body is actually the very “body of Christ.” In other words, where the people of God are, there is Christ.  As they live their lives, it is Christ living in and through them.  

So, back to 1 Peter 3:8 above. Believers are to have unity of mind, for believers are unique among all mankind in that they possess the very “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). It is because they, each and every one of them, have the Spirit of Christ living within them that they are able to understand what He is saying to them in His Word, and they also have the ability, individually, but more so, collectively, to carry out his purposes here on earth.  Incredibly, it is as believers live life together that they are actually experiencing Christ.  If there is going to be the sympathy, brotherly kindness, tender heartedness, and humility that are all attributes of Christ, they will experience those attributes as they minister to one another in love. 

It’s such a high thing, the fellowship of believers. It’s not just a fellowship that consists of “times of fellowship” that church dinners or Bible studies are sometimes referred to. Rather, this fellowship is that expressed throughout the New Testament by the Greek word “koinonia,” from which the word “fellowship” has been translated.  It’s a very deep thing. Sometimes it’s translated “communion.” It’s a sharing by faith in the mercy of Christ, the forgiveness of Christ, the love of Christ, the hope that is in Christ, and the knowledge of Christ.  The world knows nothing of this, but it’s central to every believer’s life. 

But, if we’re not careful, we can forget how incredible this all is.  We can look at one another as just other people or simply as friends, when the truth is that when we share in the fellowship of the believers that the Bible calls us to, we share in the very presence and ministry of Christ in us, through us, and to us.  And in the heart of hearts of any believer, this is the desire the Holy Spirit that lives within them, more than anything, wants.