Me & God, Not Me AloneSample

COMMUNITY PILLARS by Captain Harold Earls

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. — Galatians 6:2

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. — Romans 12:4-5

As a platoon leader in the Army, I learned that leadership has three basic pillars—leading down, leading horizontally, and leading up. In other words, leading down to the soldiers I am in charge of, leading horizontally to my fellow peers, and then leading up the chain of command by influencing higher-level decisions. Great leaders can do all three. The same rule of three holds in being part of a healthy Christian community: We share community down, mentoring others more novice in their walk with Christ. We share community horizontally, spending time in fellowship with our friends. We share community up by having spiritual role models and mentors develop and guide us in paths they’ve already traveled. The question to ask yourself is which pillar is lacking substance? Is there one that gets more bandwidth than the others?

All three are equally important, but we tend to get off-kilter, often weighing the horizontal “friend” pillar more than the others. In reality, growth and fulfillment in your faith happen most abundantly when they’re balanced. A healthy God-centered community is found by surrounding yourself with people of all ages and walks of life who are all heading in the same spiritual direction. Some are ahead of you, some alongside you, and some behind you, but all are walking on the same path. This is how you stay on course. This is the type of community God intended.

Galatians 6:2 tells us we were not meant to carry our burdens alone. And Romans 12:4-5 shows us we are all uniquely different, just like the part of the body; yet to function properly, we need each other. Each of us has something he or she can teach someone else, and all of us should be eager to learn from each other’s wisdom. Humans were meant to have community, not just friends. Don’t mistake the two. If you desire to grow closer to God, you must grow closer to community.

Daily Prayer

Lord, I desire community. I pray you will bring the right people into my life to speak wisdom and truth over me. I also pray you would open my eyes to see someone you are leading me to mentor. Don’t let me hold back out of fear or the feeling I am not good enough but remind me I too am an important part of the body of Christ. Let the community flourish around me as you intended. I love you, Lord, Amen.