Following Jesus in Fellowship
Matthew Harkness reflects on how we cannot follow Jesus Christ in isolation from one another in the community of the Church
God has been speaking to us about the importance of following him; it’s the very essence of being a Christian. Jesus promised us that if we follow him and die to our old lives then he will make us fishers of men, causing us to be disciple making disciples. Recently I’ve been meditating on some of the practicalities of this.
I think it’s crucial that when we follow Jesus we follow together. Jesus called disciples not a disciple. He called us be fishers of men, working in a team not as lone rangers. We work together and we learn from each other. The apostle Paul knew this when he told the Philippian church “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have seen in us” (Philippians 3:17 ESV). Paul urged the Philippians to imitate the Christ in him, to follow his example and learn from him as he had learned from Christ. The writer of Proverbs also knew of this truth when he wrote “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).
This leads us to the importance of fellowship, of intimately sharing our lives with each other. We need to remember that Jesus has called us as a people not merely a group of individuals. We should realise that it isn’t all about ourselves, our own personal edification but we must think “what can I do for my brothers and sisters?”, knowing that if we don’t follow Jesus together then our brothers and sisters will be missing out on what we have to give to them. So next time you think “it won’t matter if I see my brothers and sisters this week”, consider what you’re robbing them of.
Let’s follow Jesus together, leading each other in discipleship to be closer to God and making new disciples from all the nations.
Matthew Harkness
