About a week ago, a fellow brother in the church community that I am a part of was sharing with me how his day to day life has changed since he began this journey into organic New Testament church life. The religious activities that he was once heavily engaged in have been replaced by something else.
This change has prompted the concern of some of his religious friends. He has been fielding a lot of questions that sound something like this:
So, what is it that you have been doing recently? What is filling up your time these days?
His reply has dumbfounded them.
I’ve been eating a lot of meals with people recently.
Although he is typically not a mind reader, their unimpressed stares to this reply leave little doubt about what they are thinking. My friend went on to tell me that he understands why they are so unimpressed with his reply. Several months ago, he was living in their world that quantifies everything through the grid of ‘doing’ good things for God. Good things like feeding the poor, fasting, prayer meetings, bible studies, evangelism, etc…
Now, a lot of those external things have been replaced by spending more time being built together in community with others and eating meals with them. To the religious community that quantifies their relationship with God with the amount of time spent ‘doing’ good things for God, this is cause for great concern. Their thought is that my friend is wasting his time and his life. They are concerned that he is abandoning his faith. In reality, however, the exact opposite is happening!
This same scenario played out two thousand years ago with Jesus as well. Jesus had a couple of pretty slanderous labels slapped on him. He was being called by some to be a ‘glutton’ and a ‘drunk’. Consider this stunning passage in which Jesus opens up and shares how He is being attacked:
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!…(Matthew 11:19, NASB)
There is a lot behind this statement made about Jesus. Why would someone say this? Were the people making this assertion just making up blind accusations to throw at Jesus? I don’t think so. I am convinced that the people making this accusation actually believed that Jesus was simply some false teacher who was really just a glutton and a drunk.
Lenses
We all look at the world through a set of ‘lenses’. In mankind’s religious system, everything is seen through the lens of ‘doing’. The religious community in Jesus’ day was certainly no exception. Doing the ‘works’ of God meant one thing to the religious community, and something quite different to Jesus. To Jesus, the ‘work’ of God was expressing the life of His Father through fellowship. Fellowship is a state of being, a way of life.
Jesus lived in continual fellowship with His Father. He lived by His Father’s life. Jesus also lived in fellowship with a specific group of people that was given to Him. Fellowship was not something that Jesus had to do, it was simply who he was. Receiving the life of His Father, and passing that life on to others in His community was a natural state of being.
Obviously, the religious community could not see the value in this. After all, if you were busy ‘doing’ the works of God, you would not have the time to regularly eat and drink with other people. If you did have some time to spend with other people, why on earth would you choose to be in community with the likes of Matthew (a tax collector), political zealots, uneducated fishermen, women like Mary Magdalene, or Joanna, etc…? According to the religious community, these were people of unscrupulous associations and of questionable character.
Because Jesus valued something that the religious mindset could not grasp, (fellowship as a state of being), it really did look like Jesus was preoccupied with excessive eating and drinking. In reality, Jesus was not a drunk, nor was He a glutton. The fact is, Jesus ‘ate’ and ‘drank’ of His Father’s life continually.
Since physical eating and drinking are also a large part of human life as well, it was only natural that Jesus would fellowship (exchange life) with others over meals. Jesus valued people. He desired to spend time with them and to share with them the life of the Father that He lived by. Eating and drinking with other people was, and still is, a natural way to commune with others.
Jesus told His disciples (and us) that as He lived by the Father’s life (internal fellowship), so we too would live by His life. This is not just an individual way of life, but a corporate way of life as well. We see this reality played out in the daily house to house gatherings and the love feasts that occurred among the churches described in the New Testament.
Although two thousand years have passed, nothing has really changed. To the world’s religious mindset, fellowship as a state of being still looks like excessiveness (gluttony & drunkenness) and a waste of time. Be encouraged, however. Time is your friend. In the short term, the organizations, the large edifices, and the multi-million dollar humanitarian projects that the religious world is preoccupied with might look impressive. Do not let appearances fool you, however. They will not last.
Only one house will remain through the ages…the house of God! As you know, this house is a Person. Jesus Christ is the one and only house (temple) of God made up of many members. This house is built by communion (state of being) with the Head (Christ) and with the body (people). This ‘building’ with God’s people are the only ‘deeds’ that will remain in the long run. I will leave you with Jesus’ response to those who accused Him of being a ‘glutton & a drunkard’:
…Yet wisdom is (and will be) vindicated by her deeds. (Matthew 11:19, NASB)
For His House,
Jamal Jivanjee
I love this article Jamal! We have been having a conversation lately about the difference between doing and being. In our community we have noted how our time together and the time we spend with others would appear to be “unproductive” by outside standards but when we see our responsibility as one of “being the church” and not “doing church” then this time we spend eating and drinking with people (or any other activity) while we are cognizant of the fact that we are the incarnate Body of Christ (human being filled with the Spirit of God) becomes an opportunity for God to move and have His way in our world.
It gets exciting when we yield our entire life, not just the time we spend in side an institutions walls, to God and let Him have His way with us. Some people have a hard time seeing this just as they did in Jesus’ time and we get attacked just as he did but we will take that along with the blessing of seeing the relationships grow and prosper in and among the family of God and in and among those we are reaching out to with His healing love.
Keep up the good work bro. Love ya.
Bond
Amen Bond, thanks for your comment and insight. I appreciate your heart!
I am a firm believer in living life with people over strict ministry. I still wrestle with the difference between being and doing. I think you make some good points about how Jesus spent time with sinners and how we need to do the same. Ministry is not about busying yourself with stuff. Ministry is living life with people to share God with others.
My only problem with any of this is when we stay wrapped up in ourselves, as Christians, and forget that we are here to bring God to those who don’t know Him. If we only spend time with other Christians, we are losing sight of our purpose. If we are only trying to help other believers, we miss our calling. Jesus hung out with sinners. We should, too. We still need to serve and evangelize. We still need prayer meetings and there is nothing wrong with Bible studies. If that’s all you’re doing, you’re missing the point, but getting together with other believers to go out and reach those who need Jesus is part of what God wants from us.
Thanks for the article, Jamal.
Chris,
Thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate your addition to the conversation. Yes, having times of prayer, sharing the mystery of Jesus Christ with unbelievers, feeding the poor, etc…are all good things that the Lord’s life in us does. I am not suggesting that we abandon those things at all. My point is this…
All those things will naturally flow out of His divine life within us both individually and corporately. For example, true ‘evangelism’ is not just telling people information about Christ, rather it is manifesting His life (through fellowship) with others. The best form of evangelism that I have ever seen is when an unbeliever looks at a body of believers who are living and loving one another by Christ’s divine life within them.
Two thousand years ago, Christ walked the earth in a physical body and unbelievers were able to see Him, observe His character, and interact with Him. Two thousand years later, nothing has changed. He still has a body on the earth today (although this body is much larger now). Unbelievers can still see Him, observe His character, and interact with Him. This is done in & through the body of Christ (church). If this community of fellowship does not exist, there is nothing to ‘show’ to the unbelieving world. I hope that makes sense.
It totally makes sense. I just want to make sure that you weren’t talking about abandoning those great acts of faith. I wouldn’t think you were, but the wording made your intentions sound a little vague. Thanks for the clarification!
Jamal,
Really identify with this article. I too have been living the N.T. community life since 2006. Eating, playing, sharing, and yes, sometimes doing but only when He directs has shown us what it truly means to be free and live the abundant life Jesus so wants us to have. In all my walk with the Lord, these past 6 years have brought me to a place of rest in Him.
Email me some time. Would love to have dialogue with you.
Michael,
Thx for reading and commenting here. That is great to hear that you have been experiencing body life in this way! I will email you and look forward to staying in touch. Blessings to you brother:)
Thank you Jamal for the article!
Funny, since we left IC I cannot even fight the urge to start fellowshipping with other believers and be there to encourage those who have had to get out of IC because of abuse and false beliefs- it has become a joy to serve the Lord in this way!
Yeh sometimes my selfish side comes out and I want my own time, but the Holy Spirit is too strong (thank the Lord) and I have started to desire it more. Also, since I have left my desire for Jesus Christ has increased, not decreased. We have already had several people over – one young man we thought was not a Christian came over for dinner and come to find out he was a believer in Christ (ex-Catholic)! I have realized how much time has been wasted over being a do-gooder other then being a lover of Christ and sitting at His feet like Mary. I know Christ is the one who works in us and is the only One who deserves that glory for sanctifying us in His image.
Amen Faith, so glad to hear this:) It sounds like ‘detox’ is happening:)
‘Jesus lived in continual fellowship with His Father. He lived by His Father’s life. Jesus also lived in fellowship with a specific group of people that was given to Him. Fellowship was not something that Jesus had to do, it was simply who he was. Receiving the life of His Father, and passing that life on to others in His community was a natural state of being.’
…Great work Jamal! I’ve always loved this passage of scripture, and I love the interpretation you’ve given it here on wasting one’s reputation (and time) on fellowship. Just another example of how God uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise.
Thx for reading and commenting Julie. Much appreciated. Glad this was an encouragement to you. Blessings to you sister:)
Great post. God never commanded us to “do” stuff (ok, he did, but you get what I’m saying, right?). People are too busy doing stuff for God. When I think of my beautiful four year old daughter mopping the floor, doing the laundry or swabbingthe deck because she thinks it’ll make me happy, my heart breaks. I want her to be nice to her brother, be loving and obedient and I want her to be full of joy and play all day. If she mopped the floor but kicked her brother every hour, I would be really sad, and it seems that’s how most Christians act. They think if we study the Bible out of duty, tithe and fold the chairs after a prayer meeting, we’re on the right path. But we’ll curse the guy who cuts us off on the highway and grumble on our way to work. But hey, we went to a Bible study!
Thx for reading and commenting Anthony:)
I reread my post. I DON’T have my four year old do chores like that!
“Doing” flowing from being, not vice versa. Amen to that Jamal!
I’m sure you’re well aware; but like when “doing” is out out of order, “knowing” and “feeling” can also be problems. These seem to be the 3 main flows of soulish Christianity: doing, knowing, and feeling.
Activity does not equate to productivity. Trevor & Jamal hit the nail on the head, our doing is in response of the indwelling,(being).
Human culture is so works based, this seems to be in line with our fallen nature, (look what I did). We in our natural mind desire recognition for our performance.
As we better learn that our identity, and lives are in Christ this melts the works based concept like a snow ball in Miami.
Paul says it best:
What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
Jamal, thanks so much for sharing this. From what I can see, folk from the institutional church are burning out left, right and centre. I think your diagnosis is bang on: too much “doing” and not enough “feasting” upon Christ with one another.