The Attraction of Intimacy
One of the main reasons people join gangs and cults is that such groups provide a sense of belonging. People who believe they are unwanted will often do almost anything to feel as though they are valued by others. For a person who has felt like an outcast all of his or her life, even the most violent or misguided gangs or cults can be attractive. At least initially, the senses of belonging and self-worth can outweigh the cons of the sinful life that membership in a gang or cult may require. The intimacy of fellowship--no matter what type of immorality or evil the fellowship produces--can be a spectactular attraction to the lonely.
In this basic social truth is an important lesson for the body of Christ: intimacy is a powerful witnessing tool. People want to belong to teams in which members rejoice and mourn together, as Paul instructed the Romans and Corinthians to do. When nonbelievers see genuine love, happiness, and contentment in the church, the Christian message becomes much more appealing.
During the first service that my wife and I ever attended at our present church, we were overwhelmed by the love we felt in the sanctuary. We were, of course, greeted warmly and made to feel welcome, but we had experienced cordiality elsewhere during our hunt for a home church. What impressed us about our church in particular was that every member had an almost tangible love for every other member. Seeing that love gave us an indescribable feeling of warmth and contentment. We liked that feeling, and we wanted more of it. In the almost two years that Brooke and I have attended our church, we've seen our membership more than double. And every new member has testified that he or she returned after the first visit in part because of the sincere sense of family in our congregation (and because of hearing uncompromised Bible-based preaching, of course).
As the founder of a ministry about teamwork's role in the Christian life, I become more convinced each day that loving intimacy is teamwork's most important ingredient. I also believe that intimacy within the body of Christ gets the attention of nonbelievers. A few months ago a certain passage in the book of Acts struck me in a new way and affirmed my convictions about the significance of intimacy:
42They [the early believers] devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
At first glance, the last sentence of the above passage seems out of place. Verses 42-46 illustrate the intimacy and fellowship of the early believers, but the last sentence--"And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."--appears to signal a thematic shift from fellowship to church growth.
The last sentence is not out of place, though. It is, in fact, an appropriate ending to the passage. It was only natural that souls were being saved, for people are drawn to the type of intimacy and fellowship found in the early church.
Notice also that the passage does not say, "They met together every Sunday and Wednesday for formal church services." Rather, the early believers met, ate, and praised God together every day. I'm not criticizing church services as we know them, but people do not become intimate with each other during the five-minute conversations that occur after church on Sunday mornings. Getting together with fellow believers for dinner or shopping or just good old fun is extremely important, and we could all probably spend more quality time with other Christians.
As a new year dawns, I believe we should seek deeper relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The closer we are to each other, the more we will share each other's burdens and rejoice together. More importantly, our sincere intimacy will make the body of Christ more attractive to those who do not yet know Jesus.
Trackback address for this post:
http://www.everysquareinch.com/htesi/trackback.php/219