The Reluctant Brother

 4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4: 4 - 8 NKJV

Through my time studying alongside Dennis I have certainly learned much about of the inner workings of the modern institutional church.  For in his time as a pastor he has certainly seen the good, bad and the ugly of the modern church structure.  I have certainly come away with a much different view of the church as we know it.  One of the situations which he has shared with us is how a church pastor would shepherd their flock from week to week.  See, if a member of the congregation would miss two Sundays in a row, they could then expect a call from a pastor to check in on the possible lost member of the flock.  Of course, I question whether this was done out of true concern or out of fear of losing another dollar in the collection plate.  Either way, you could not miss too many services without hearing from whichever pastor had drawn shepherding duty for that week.  I've experienced this for myself.  I've often wondered if I needed to schedule my vacations through the church in order to avoid such inquiries.  Of course, this leads me into the subject of the reluctant brother.  We all know them, those few christians among us who for one reason or another prefer to fly under the radar instead of partaking in the traditional christian aspect of community.  Again, I've experienced my own share of these people as well.  I've gotten plenty of flack from Dennis for my choice to recluse myself at times from many of those around me.  Plenty of scripture they will quote from our Lord not wanting us to be alone to the great commision of making disciples of all the nations.  I've heard it all.  Does this make me a unsociable person?  Definately not.  I prefer to think of it as placing a good value on my private time away from it all.  See, I work in a public service occupation and I have often seen the good, bad and extremely ugly of human behavior.  There are times when I just need to get away.  Am I one of those reluctant brothers?  I would say no, but a few nay sayers would surely want to make their opinions known on that point.  I can hear them quoting scriptures already.

35‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’40“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Matthew 25: 35 - 40 NKJV

I've often mentioned my mother in  my writings on Christ based community, as this was one of her strengths.  My mother was one of those unique people who was drawn to others.  One of her best friends once shared with me as to how she first met my mom.  It seems that she was at church one Sunday and having a pretty low day.  The next thing she knew, my mom was coming up to her and asking this stranger to share lunch with her.  That was my mom.  Now, does this mean that by heredity I would assume her fondness for community with others?  Absolutely not!  For being fearfully and wonderfully made as I am, God has indeed gifted me with my own set of gifts with which to reveal Himself to others through me.  I believe this to be our ultimate destination, that Christ Jesus would be revealed through us for others to see {Galations 2:20}.  So what are we indeed to do with that reluctant brother among us?  Do we follow the lead of the church and check on them every two weeks?  How long would it be before we ourselves wore out our welcome?  Indeed, I have friends who connect with me on a regular basis as well as those who choose not to do so.  This is our human dynamic.  I am glad to hear from my brothers, but if I don't I also realize that I still hold that relationship with them.  the apostle John tells us in 1 John 4 that we are to love one another, for God is love AND He is within we who have accepted Him.  Therefore, others will surely see Him revealed through us, even that reluctant brother among us.

~Scott~