Galatians 1:2. the and all the brothers who are with me…
We don’ know for certain where Paul was when he wrote Galatians. Was it Corinth? Ephesus? Antioch? But we do know that he was not alone. He was with all the brothers and sisters in the faith.
Paul’s freedom in Christ did not in any way make him a “Lone Ranger Christian.” Isolation is never freedom. Paul’s freedom allowed him to always do ministry alongside of others. Not as a high and lofty, condescending Apostle that looked down on all the other servants in the church, but as one who knew that he needed to be around the brothers and sisters in Christ.
Paul’s freedom is exactly the thing that allowed him to be focused on everyone else except himself. Even when Paul talks about himself (and he will talk about himself in this letter), he does it only to strengthen the saints. Paul was deeply and humbly immersed in community. This did not stifle his freedom, it enhanced it.
Why do Christians avoid such deep community? Do we fear that it will steal away our freedom? Maybe. But what if living in community actually made us more free, not less? What if freedom is not about independence but about interdependence?
Let me ask those of you who are actively avoiding doing life together with other Christians, avoiding that class, that small group, that ministry, are you avoiding others out of a fear of losing your freedom over your own life? But can I also challenge you to consider that your life of so-called freedom is actually a bondage to you own selfishness?
You see, the world often defines freedom as total autonomy over our own life. But this is myth, a “chasing after the wind” as Ecclesiastes would say. True freedom is the rejection of autonomy and the embracing of love and sacrifice for others. Only then will we live free from our sin and shame.
No Christian has ever become more free, more spiritually mature, more whole on their own. Not even Paul. And definitely not us.
You: In what way have you been avoiding doing life together with other Christians in ways that reduce independence but increase your freedom from selfishness?
You in Christ: How does being joined to Christ give us the freedom we need to seek out the community we need in order to grow in grace and freedom?
Christ in you: What would it look like to start doing life with your brothers and sisters in Christ in more intimate ways?
Pray: Father, even you live life in community, so why do I think that I don’t need to? Help me to find my place among the brothers and sisters that you have given me in Christ. Amen.
To Live is Christ 