Building Genuine Community Series

ENGAGE

I remember back when the first of the so called “smart phones” appeared on the market in the early 2000’s. At first, I didn’t really see the need to for one. I just couldn’t figure out why anyone needed access to their emails or to be able to get on the internet from their phones. But I think probably around the time the first iPhones came on the scene in 2007, I finally broke down and bought a used Palm Treo, primarily because I wanted to be able to keep an electronic calendar. But even though the phone had the capabilities to retrieve my email or connect to the internet I was too cheap to pay for a data plan that would allow me to use those functions. So I pretty much just used my phone for the calendar, to occasionally send or receive a text and believe it or not, to actually talk to people on the phone.

Eventually I finally splurged and bought an iPhone 5, probably well after the iPhone 6 became available. And like many of you have found, I soon grew dependent on my phone to stay connected 24/7. And when I waded into the ocean with that phone in my pocket and discovered that it was not waterproof and was without a phone for over a week, I felt really disconnected from the world. And yes, just for the record before one of my dear family members will be sure to remind me, a year later I decided to see if my replacement phone was waterproof, this time by snorkeling with it. It was not waterproof either and once again I went without a phone for a couple of weeks and once again felt disconnected from the world.

By the way, I am no longer permitted to take my phone within 50 feet of any water.

TENSION

In general, we are by far the most connected culture in history. We get instant notifications of news, weather, email and the latest posts on our Facebook feed. We can instantly share our latest photos with family and friends. And occasionally some of us even break down and actually speak to someone on our phones.

And yet I would argue that we are probably the most disconnected generation ever. We may have hundreds of friends online, but the sad fact is that we have very few real relationships. And unfortunately, those trends have even had an impact on the church.

Back in the early 1970’s country singer Tom T. Hall wrote a song titled “Me and Jesus”, which hit number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the years the song has been covered by other artists like George Jones and Brad Paisley. A couple years ago Sundance Head performed it a on the singing competition, The Voice, where his performance helped propel him to victory. You’re probably wondering what a country song from nearly 50 years ago has to do with our message this morning, but as I put the lyrics of the chorus up on the screen I think you’ll begin to see its relevance:

Me and Jesus, we got our own thing goin'

Me and Jesus, we got it all worked out

I said me and Jesus, we got our own thing goin'

We don't need anybody to tell us what it's all about

Unfortunately, I think those words are a pretty accurate reflection of how many people view their relationship with Jesus. And as I was working on the message this week, I began to understand that I’m partly to blame for that. Like many of you, I’ve often referred to being a disciple of Jesus as “my personal relationship with Jesus”. While I think that idea is helpful in distinguishing Biblical Christianity from all other religions that are based on earning favor with God as a result of what man can do, perhaps it has also helped foster the idea that “me and Jesus got our own thing goin’” and that I can somehow be a “Lone Ranger” Christian who doesn’t need anybody else to “tell me what it’s all about”.

But the problem is that God created man with a need for community. When He said “It is not good for man to be alone”, I think there is good evidence in the Bible that idea goes far beyond just marriage. In fact, the passage that we’ll look at this morning is going to reinforce the importance of relationships and community for us as disciples of Jesus.

TRUTH

This is the second of nine messages from our series from the Book of Acts titled “Gathered to Go”. In that series we’re looking at how the first disciples were gathered together to form the body of the Christ – the church – and how this gathered people then went and brought the kingdom of God near to others.