An Introduction to One Another

Aug 21, 2022 | by Pastor Josh Tate | series: One Another

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“One another” is such a common phrase in the Bible that it would be easy to skip right by it without pausing to dwell on its significance. For example, In the Bible we are told to Love OA, Be Devoted to OA, Honor OA, Live in Harmony with OA, Accept OA, Look out for OA, Greet OA with a holy kiss, Serve OA, Carry OA’s burdens, Bear with OA, Be Kind to OA, Be compassionate to OA, Forgive OA, Teach OA, Admonish OA, Encourage OA, Build OA Up, Spur OA on toward love and good deeds, Meet with OA, Confess Your Sins to OA, and Have fellowship with OA — just to name a few.

Each one of these “one another” statements are powerful and convicting. Taken all together they communicate beautifully God’s heart for His people as they live together in community. Our God is a God of relationships, and He desires for us, as His special people, to reflect His nature by being a one-another people.

Even so, over the years I have known all kinds of people who claimed to possess a relationship with Jesus apart from a relationship with His church.

For example, I know one woman, a dear friend of mine, who claims that her garden is her church. She claims to get all the communion with God that she needs out working in her garden. “It’s so peaceful,” she says. There’s no need for the church, she thinks. After all, she has her garden.

Another example, I was witnessing once to a homeless man who I had been careful to build a relationship with. As soon as I started sharing the Gospel, he became angry. He interrupted me to and yelled, “Listen, I’m cool with Jesus. Jesus is cool with me. It’s you people I have a problem with.” Again, this man claimed to have some kind of relationship with God but he very clearly wanted nothing to do with God’s people.

One last example, years ago I was catching up with an old, family friend who confessed that she had stopped going to church altogether. I reminded her of Hebrews 10:25, “…not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- and all the more as you see the day approaching.” She answered, “Yeah, I know the rules.” I was left wondering if, for her, church attendance had always been a matter of rule keeping. She was clearly not thinking of God’s people with the “one another” mindset that we find described in the Bible.

The Bible describes the church as the bride of Christ. Just imagine what would happen if somebody came up to me after church this next Sunday and said, “Josh, I’m glad we’re friends, but I really wish you would stop bringing that wife of yours around.” Someone could only say such a thing to me if they fundamentally did not understand how important my wife is to me. I think people betray a similar misunderstanding of Jesus when they think He will be understanding of their desire to be in relationship with Him but not His bride. One of the proofs of an abiding and sincere faith in Christ is that we love the things he loves, and Jesus loves the church LITERALLY to death— to death on a cross. His desire is for us to be one-another people, and not because it is a rule, but because we share his heart and His passion for the church.