The Value of
Connections
We need to
understand the value of connections, including the connections that God has
established between members of the church.
God values connections and the placement of people within the Body. The enemy, however, seeks to make Christians
believe they do not belong where they are, and to isolate them from the other
members of the Body. He knows that a
kingdom divided cannot stand. We can
even go to church on Sunday and not really feel connected in the way that God
wants us to be connected.
Nehemiah 3
shows a people returning from captivity about to rebuild the walls of the
The phrase “next to” not only refers to who
is next to us on our right, but who is next to us on our left, so that we are
linked. In verse 7, the word “next to”
means that something is being passed on from one person to the next. Not only are persons connected and building
the same thing, but that it takes the two of them joined together to do it
properly. This helps us to see that
not only who we are connected to is important, but that He places us where
we will be the most beneficial in the
Going into
the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 12 we see the spiritual giftings
that God has placed in the members of the Body.
Paul describes the giftings and how they work
to some extent, and then begins to exhort the church as a unit that we need
each other. In verse 14 he states how
the body isn’t made up of one part, but many parts. No one part can say that because they are not
a hand that they do not belong. He
continues to explain that if we were all eyes we could not hear, and if we were
all ears we could not see. God has
arranged each and every part exactly as He wants them to be.
Sadly, many Christians see themselves as members of an organization
rather than members of a living organism called the Body of Christ. This, and because we often wrestle with
independence and other issues, results in our wanting to go here, and wanting
to go there, and doing this, rather than doing what God wants us to do.
We read the words “sets the
members of the Body” in verse 18. In the
NIV of the Bible, that word “sets” is translated “arranges”. The Greek word means that because of the
things that God places in our life and the giftings
that are in us, we will work better in connection with the people that He has
put here with us than we will any place else.
This simply means that if God set me in
the Fellowship of Life Church as a member then I won’t prosper as well outside
the Fellowship of Life unless God were to move me, because we would be breaking the
arrangement that God has made. Sure we
will have some measure of success in our lives, but it will never be to the
measure that God intends. We need to
understand the value that we have to one another and the importance of our
lives to one another, as well as where He places us. Both graces and the gifts
exist in God’s people. If we don’t have
people placed in the right places, we miss the graces and the gifts and other
things God has placed within us for the benefit of the Body.
People support what they create. If you are not a part of what God is
creating, you will not support it. If
you are disconnected or feel disconnected you will not support it or feel a
part of it. The remedy is to join to the
Body where God has set you and identify with the work in that place. Guard yourself against becoming judgmental,
disagreeable, isolated, or disharmonious.
Give yourself to be part of the work of building/creating as you are
commonly linked to the other members in that place where God has set you. You know, it is very hard to hug a porcupine
— we can put up walls around us which do not allow others into our lives. Resolve to love each member and desire the
very best for one another. God will surely
allow us to become involved relationally with people who have common interests
of some sort, and even for intimate friendships. But we must also allow Him to order our
connections in the Body and to see that each one is vital to the building of
God’s kingdom. And remember that God
will also connect us to those who help our “imperfections” arise so that we can
recognize those areas of our lives that need to be changed and molded to the
image of Christ.
It is sad that Christians often separate themselves from the Body because they
believe they can work out their problems themselves. It just won’t work! They are essentially hiding their problems
from the other members, and from the solutions the Lord placed within those
members. To step from our hiding places
into the places God arranges insures that we will receive the very best from
those God connects to us. God is
concerned about the love relationships we have with one another. If you decide when you connect and who
you connect to, you are potentially shutting off the life flow within the
Body. What is in you is no longer
flowing freely, the church’s resources are then hindered, growth is hampered,
and maturity is stifled. We cannot get
all of our answers alone. We must have
horizontal relationships as well as vertical relationships. We then connect both to God,
and to God in the people around us.
So, we need each other. Our place must
be a place of participation, service and commitment, but above all a place of God-ordained
connections. To abide by God’s plan
insures growth, prosperity and maturity.
Each member is important and each has a divine purpose. Each is important to the other, and to the
corporate work of building God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Father, we want to see with your eyes. We want to humbly see and perceive who and
what we are, and with grace and gifts serve and work with one another. Make us servants. Bond us together more and more so that we
become one, even as you, the Father and the Holy Spirit are one. Connect us in new and fresh ways so that we
build together like those on Nehemiah’s wall.
Amen!
Blessings In Christ,
This
Ephesians Ministries International®
article is a publication of Ephesians Ministries International®.
Ephesians
Ministries International,
Http://ephesiansministries.org