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The Christian church is described in the Bible as the body of Christ or branches on a vine, but often we don’t have that kind of close relationship with one another. In this episode, Gary Wilkerson and Joshua West talk about how authenticity in relationships can be messy and frustrating but also leads to genuinely close friendships as well as spiritual growth in a community. They explore the questions of what stands in the way of close relationships and how to we address those barriers.
Key Points from the Podcast
• When we’re trying to look good to others, we will fail to build genuine relationships and true community with other people.
• Commercialized society and programmatic church can end up with Christian gatherings that are so polished that there are very few opportunities to genuinely connect with other people or see authentic confessions of faith. Organization isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes a rigid program can stand in the way of community.
• You can have commonalities like your interests and unity like with a cause that you support and still not have community because that requires a higher degree of relationships.
• The Bible called for church community to have a much higher level of commitment to relationships than we often have today. We may call people ‘brother’ or say they’re “like a father in the faith,” but do we actually commit to them the way we would to family?
• Each one of us will be uncomfortable with certain relationship dynamics because of damage done in the past, but we must submit this to God and work toward healing rather than avoiding those relationships.
• If we’re struggling with relationships, we need to look inwardly and see if there is an area of our heart that God wants to heal so that we can more successfully connect with other people.
• Having an agenda or looking for how people benefit us will undercut building meaningful friendships or even other types of relationships.
Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast
Acts 2, John 15:1-17
Episodes in this Podcast Series
About Joshua West
Joshua West serves as the Church Leadership Network Director at World Challenge helping equip and empower pastors all over the world. Joshua’s desire is to raise up ministers who will correctly and boldly preach the word with passion and integrity. The point of all his work and writings is to preach the gospel, glorify God and to teach sound doctrine.