Sparks flying?

You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19-21)

Together - no longer living independently - we are his house. In close companionship with each other; without interruption within the relationship we enjoy as a result of being 'in Christ Jesus'. We might forget how Christ has joined us together with himself. More importantly, we may overlook how he has broken walls of differences that should not matter any longer. He has put us on an 'even playing field' by his grace and we are to live in unity with one another as a result. 

We are 'carefully joined together in him'. Don't overlook those words. Those individuals who Christ asks us to live in 'community' with are actually 'joined together' with us because Jesus knew we'd actually learn from each other, spurring each other onto full growth in him. He is making us into 'one temple' - not a bunch of little temples all going our own way - one united, holy temple for his love and grace to dwell within.

We are members of God's family. As such, we no longer live for ourselves. We no longer live isolated and 'insulated' from others. We might want to crawl into a hole and just escape life from time to time, but that is when we most need to gather together with the ones he has placed us in community with. Life gets challenging, and it is not any less challenging when people from different walks of life try to live together in 'community'. Yet, it is the exact instructions we are given!

The more we resist one another, the more Christ will work in our midst drawing us together until those walls of resistance toward community are broken down. As scripture aptly points out, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." (Proverbs 27:17) We might have a few 'sparks' when we attempt to live in community with each other, but could it be that those very 'sparks' ignite something within us that would otherwise have never come to life? Just askin...