A Closer Walk With Thee
Mutual Sanctification
None of Us Are Sinners Emeritus
Why many people are scared of true fellowship—and what
to do about that.
Galatians 6:1–4; Philippians 3:12–16
Bruce Larson coined the phrase “relational theology.” A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, he pastored various churches, including University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, where he is now pastor emeritus. Bruce served as president of Faith at Work and has authored over 20 books, including No Longer Strangers, The Relational Revolution, and Mastering Pastoral Care. In this interview, Larson opens up about why Christians don’t open up.
When did it dawn on you that Christians were missing something in the area of fellowship?
I was a student minister at a little church up on the Hudson River, and one weekend I found out some shocking news: a teenage girl in the congregation had left town to go to her older brother’s home. She was pregnant. I said to the dear woman who told me, “Could I go and see her?”
“Oh, no,” she replied. “You’re the last person she wants to know what’s happened.”
Bruce Larson
“The church is
not a museum
for finished products.”
Suddenly it hit me: That’s what’s wrong with the church in our time. It’s the place you go when you put on your best clothes; you sit in Sunday school; you worship; you have a potluck dinner together—but you don’t bring your life! You leave behind all your pain, your brokenness, your hopes, even your joys.
How much have we changed since then? Have we made progress?
I think in almost any church of any size there are now at least some people trying to be real, asking, “What does it mean for me to belong to Jesus Christ and also to belong to his family?”
You see, God asks us three questions when we try to get close to him. First, he asks, “Will you trust me with your life?” That’s what he said to Abram: “Will you leave the familiar, sell your house, pack up your goods, and move out?”
Next God asks, “Will you entrust yourself to a part of my family?” I was in seminary when I finally opened up and entrusted my secrets to a fellow struggler, and it was like Pentecost for me. The power of God was suddenly released when I gave up being invulnerable.
Finally God asks, “Will you get out and be involved someplace in the world?” When people say “Yes”
to all three questions, we have an alive church.
But why is church still a lonely place for some people?
The church, unfortunately, has become a museum to display the victorious life. We keep spotlighting people who say, “I’ve got it made. I used to be terrible, but then I met Jesus, got zapped by the Spirit, got into a small group, got the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit …” and the implication is that they are sinners emeritus. That’s just not true.
What we need in the church are models who fail, because most of us fail more than we succeed. That’s why we need to remember that the church is not a museum for finished products. It’s a hospital for the sick.
How do believers solve their loneliness problem?
Many Christians think that if they read their Bibles enough or go to enough meetings and groups, they can be “cured” of loneliness. Yet even Jesus on his last night in Gethsemane was excruciatingly lonely. Had he
taken the wrong road? Could he endure the crucifixion? He had only two choices: he could hide his loneliness or share it. He chose to share it with three trusted friends … and they kept going to sleep on him!
We know Jesus is our supreme example. Yet how many churches would welcome a pastor who, late on a Saturday night, would call three elders or deacons and say, “Would you mind coming over to the parsonage? It’s been a tough couple of weeks. I haven’t prayed in ten days, my wife and I aren’t speaking, I’m full of self-hate, and tomorrow is Sunday. I thought if you three came along and just kept me company while I prayed. … You know, I really want to make it somehow.”
A real New Testament church would say, “This pastor is like Jesus.”
But we’re more prone to say, “No, you’ve got to have it all together, Pastor. Smile a lot. Be successful.”
Some say mission is what’s important—Christians need to focus on the urgent tasks rather than their feelings.
This is like a person saying, “I don’t need to eat—just work.”
It is true that we are to be productive people. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. But the branches must have nourishment through connection. In other words, Christians, to be productive, need to be nourished, and we do this in community. We have no choice—God made us this way.
Do small groups help?
Church leaders ask me, “How do you get small groups going in a church?” There is only one infallible way. You start one group because you need it.
How does a group become a place of true fellowship?
It begins when people can’t stand the façade anymore. See, it doesn’t do any good to know someone else’s secrets unless he tells them to you. And it doesn’t work for me to say to you, “I know what your problem is.” That just destroys the relationship. You have to come out with it first, and then I can minister to you.
Even in a small community, though the hiding places are few, there’s no release until the person voluntarily says, “You know, I’ve been unfaithful,” or “I’ve defrauded someone,” or “I’m a closet homosexual,” or whatever.
It’s like when Jesus said to the man in the tombs, “What’s your name?”
The fellow said, “Well, I’ve got a lot of them. My name is Legion.”
Only then could Jesus start helping him. The Lord doesn’t barge into a person’s life, and neither can we.
God’s Word Changes us - Isaiah 55:10-13
Our fellowship Changes us – Eph. 4:11-16
These two verses tell us that personal change and growth can take place deeply and radically when:
We allow the Holy Spirit to apply God’s Word to our Heart’s
We allow God’s people to encourage, guide, support, pray for and challenge us biblically
We are a needy people. There are three places that our greatest needs as human beings may be seen;
In Creation
In The Fall
In Redemption
Let’s Pray
Our need as seen in Creation – Genesis 1:26-28
We cannot figure out life on our own; We are created to be:
revelation receivers
Interpreters
Worshippers
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold,
• I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Next we see our need by the Fall – Genesis 3
Here we see another voice enter the garden
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
To listen to the serpent is to forever have your life changed when you choose to obey him!
His revelations are poison
Our interpretations are selfish
Our worship is idolatrous
• For Lucifer has said:
o Isa 14:12-14 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
o For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High.
Our Need as seen in Redemption – Hebrews 3:12,13
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you:
• an evil heart– Sin patterns
• of unbelief – Subtle backing away from scripture truths.
• in departing from the living God – Leaving the moorings of God
o But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today;
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. – Heart scabs, no longer tender
Consider Matthew 7:1-5
As we exhort each other we will have sin of our own to deal with!
We must still help each other though!
• Gal.6:1 – We will do it if we are spiritual
We need to realize that we need help from outside of ourselves in order to enter into life changing sanctification. Everything we say and do carries a moral agenda to it and our motives must be observed by others that our spiritual blind-spots may be dealt with.
To do this we must accept revelation from outside ourselves, enter into humble introspection, and recognize sin’s deceitfulness – committing myself to being approachable.
Lastly we need to learn how to be instruments of change in other believers lives. Saturating ourselves with scripture so that my counsels are pure and being mindful of the influence my life has on others.
