Looking all the way back to the beginning, we have God making man in a very unique, interesting way. The LORD God molded the man out of the dust of the earth, but then breathed the breath/spirit/wind of life into him, and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7). In other words, the thing that set the man apart from the rest of creation is that man consisted of two natures, the physical and the spiritual.
So what does that mean for our thinking of community? It means that we simply cannot separate the need for our community to stress both the physical aspects of simply being together with the spiritual aspects of recognizing our union and fellowship with God in Jesus. Our tendency is to focus on one or the other, and leave the other side of the coin lacking.
For example, when we think of worship, we tend to focus our thoughts on God. Rightfully so, since He is the object of our worship. And yet, when we gather with our brothers and sisters in Jesus, I believe that we benefit greatly from remembering that we have two natures. Yes, our focus on God is of the utmost importance. However, one thing that God repeatedly tells us is that our affection and love toward Him is demonstrated in our affection and love toward one another.
When we worship with our fellow Christians, where is our focus? Do we focus on God, especially on His grace shown to us in Jesus? Do we make our time of worship more about the physical side of our being, such as the songs we sing and the things we like? How do we work to tie the two together?
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