SOMETHING TO PONDER

The past few years Paul David Tripp has become a favorite author for Katie and me. Below is an article he wrote about an aspect of church life we don’t get very well. Take a few minutes to read the article below and see what God might lead you to do in strengthening our community at Hillcrest.

A theme found throughout the New Testament is Anonymous, isolated, “Jesus and me” Christianity is unbiblical.

I was teaching on the community aspect of Christianity at a conference once, and an attendee stopped me during the break. “But Paul, if I have the New Testament in my hands and the Holy Spirit of the New Testament in my heart, why do I need the ministry of others?”

On the surface, it sounds like a fair question. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the Wonderful Counselor of the church. He enables us to understand God’s Word, convicts us of sin, works in us a willingness to obey, and enables us to do what we have been called by God to do.

But you could also use the same flawed logic to argue that you don’t need public worship and the public ministry of the Word at church every week.

This mindset of “I only need the Bible and the Holy Spirit” misses so much of what the New Testament describes as necessary in our sanctification process. On the contrary, the writer of Hebrews provides this powerful argument as to why we need the personal ministry of others:

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13).

What a terrifying progression! How could this ever happen to a believer? Because of the deceiving power of indwelling sin.

On the cross and by the resurrection, Christ broke the power of sin over us (Romans 6:1–14). But the presence of deceitful sin still remains.

Sin blinds, and guess who gets blinded first? Christ captures this truth with his word picture in Matthew 7. He says we can see a speck of dust in our neighbor’s eye, but we are oblivious to a huge piece of lumber sticking out of our own!

Notice also from this passage that there are no “haves” and “have nots” here. There is no group that has arrived spiritually and therefore can provide all the ministry to a group of strugglers. This passage teaches that everybody ministers, and everybody needs ministry.

Each of us needs help, and each of us is called to offer it. Spiritual accuracy and insight is the product of community.

I need you in order to really see and know myself. Otherwise, I will listen to my own arguments, believe my own lies, and buy into my own delusions. If I am going to see myself clearly, I need you to hold the mirror of God’s Word in front of me.

As Christians who still have pockets of spiritual blindness, we need two character qualities:

First, we need the loving courage of honesty. We need to love others more than we love ourselves, and so, with humble, patient love, help them to see what they need to see.

Second, we need the thankful humility of approachability. We need to forsake defensiveness, be thankful that God has surrounded us with help, and be ready to receive it—every day!

I need to wake up in the morning and say, “God, I am a person in desperate need of help. Please send helpers my way and give me the humility to receive the help you have provided.”

And I need to pray further, “Lord, make me willing to help someone see themselves as you see them today.”

We need to live in humble, honest, intrusive, and intentional community with one another, where personal ministry that goes both ways is part of the daily culture.

Do we really need the help of our brothers and sisters? Do they really need ours? The biblical answer is a resounding yes!

A Prayer for Today: God, would you send helpers my way and give me the humility to receive the help you have provided? And Lord, would you make me willing to help someone see themselves as you see them today? In your name, amen. God bless,

Paul David Tripp