A description of the course that explains what you will learn and how it will help you grow closer to Jesus
4 lessons
4 lessons
4 lessons
Our walk with God is both deeply personal and necessarily communal. Explore how the deeper we experience union with God, the more connected we become with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our walk with God is both deeply personal and necessarily communal.
As part of the research for the Major Project in my Doctor of Ministry, I interviewed some of the most mature, passionate, and wholehearted disciples of Jesus that I could find. Repeatedly, I was struck by how consistently they discussed two interrelated factors to their spiritual growth.
First, they understand themselves, first and foremost, as disciples of Jesus. This characterized the totality of their identity as they intentionally sought to integrate their faith into every area of their lives. Second, they were equally intentional about embedding themselves in tight-knit communities of mentors, peers, and those they served, who also followed Jesus.
To experience the life-giving paradox that our relationship with God is profoundly personal yet inseparably communal, testing the authenticity of our personal spirituality by our love for others.
In the Scriptures, we can easily see both priorities. Jesus called each disciple by name, saying, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Yet, he also united them into a community of apostles (further organized into three small groups of four each).
The Apostle Paul taught congregations that they were like a body, with each part playing an essential role (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 3). The Apostle Peter provided the metaphor of living stones joined into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2).
As individuals united to Jesus, we are, therefore, united to one another.
At times, the corporate dimension of the Christian faith can be overemphasized. In some situations, we can confuse attending church or having Christian parents as synonymous with having a personal faith in Jesus.
In their worst forms, we see hyper-controlling cults manipulate their disciples into surrendering control of their finances, moving into communes, and living so totally enmeshed within their 'faith family' that they tragically lose a sense of self.
Yet, in our current cultural moment, this paradox may be predominately lopsided in the other direction. According to the U.S. Census, "a person in the United States can expect to move 11.7 times in their lifetime." The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in January 2024, the median employment with one's current employer had declined to 3.9 years. The Facts and Trends publication found in 2007 (pre-Covid!) that the median length of church attendance was 6.6 years (and even this was skewed by a much longer median length of attendance among those older than 55 years old). In 2024, a report in the U.K. found that "40 percent have gone at least three days without a face-to-face conversation with another person."
The predominance of digital engagement, including 'social' media, may be part of this trend. The sociologist Robert Putnam once said Americans were 'bowling alone', but now we're 'scrolling alone.' For instance, in 2025, we're projected to spend nearly eight hours a day with digital media, and two of these hours are on social media. Imagine if we redirected our time watching videos, doom-scrolling, and browsing the internet into spiritually productive activities and relationships!
But even as we veer off into coasting off the faith of others or isolating ourselves into spiritual cocoons, God has already resolved this 'paradox' in a manner that still defies our comprehension.
As Christians believe, God is Triune—one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each person is entirely God, wholly united as one God, sharing one mind, one will, and the same attributes, yet distinct in their relationships within the Godhead: the Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
This Triune relationship is what Jesus invites us to participate in. In his prayer to the Father (by the Spirit), Jesus said,
I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me (John 17:20-23).
As Gerald Borchert explains, "This relationship of believers with God is premised on a community who together experience a oneness with God… But unity is neither self-generated in the disciples nor their ultimate goal. Oneness is a means to enable the world to realize what God has been doing."
Our Triune God unites us into union with him and one another so we might participate in his loving mission and glorify him together, forever, as his people.
So, how do we 'resolve' this paradox in our own lives?
What the Bible teaches is that the deeper we personally experience our union with God, the more connected we will want to become with our brothers and sisters in Christ—and that as we draw close to one another in vulnerability, honesty, encouragement, prayer, and love, the more we will feel united to God.
We can test the authenticity of our personal spirituality by whether we are growing in love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can also test the genuineness of our fellowship by how it strengthens us to know ourselves as God's beloved children.
As Bonhoeffer taught us,
Let him who cannot be alone beware of community... Let him who is not in community beware of being alone... Each by itself has profound perils and pitfalls. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and the one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair (Life Together).
To this end, consider these discernment questions, both by yourself, and if you can, with a trusted friend:
Personally - Do I personally know that my identity is God's beloved child and friend? - Do I see prayer and Scripture study as opportunities to deepen my relationship with God? - In my day-to-day life, am I seeking to be led by the Holy Spirit, so that every decision might reflect that Jesus is my Lord? - Do I trust God to take care of me, no matter what my circumstances look like? - Have I experienced God transforming my life in miraculous ways that go beyond anything I can attribute to my effort?
Corporately - Do I feel that I 'belong' to a group of fellow Christians who know my hardest struggles, deepest joys, and care for me no matter what? - Who, if anyone, can I be completely open with about my relationship with God? - Who, if anyone, mentors me to follow Jesus? Are they taking the initiative to invest in my life, available when needed, setting a godly example, and offering wise guidance? - Who, if anyone, am I investing in to help them experience spiritual growth? - What's one way that my community has recently helped me to follow Jesus?
In St. Augustine's writings, we see both emphases: the individual journey of faith in The Confessions and the church's corporate witness in The City of God. Take some time to reflect upon his wisdom and let it spur you to prayer.
From The Confessions:
You rouse them to take delight in praising you: for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it comes to rest in you.
From The City of God:
But a household of men who do not live by faith strives to find an earthly peace in the goods and advantages which belong to this temporal life. By contrast, a household of men who live by faith looks forward to the blessings which are promised as eternal in the life to come; and such men make use of earthly and temporal things like pilgrims: they are not captivated by them, nor are they deflected by them from their progress towards God.
God invites us to experience a life-giving paradox: our relationship with God is profoundly personal yet inseparably communal. Like Augustine, our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Faith is always an inescapably personal experience. Yet, as we find ourselves intoxicated with love for God, we awaken to realize that we are participants in his heavenly city, and desire to pursue love, peace, and mutual service with the other citizens of his kingdom.
How does this passage illustrate both the personal and corporate dimensions of faith?
What practices did the early believers engage in that nurtured both personal commitment and community life?
What were the results of this integrated approach to following Jesus?
How does your personal experience of God enable you to participate in God's community?
How do God's people enable you to develop a deeper faith in God?
Which is harder for you to appreciate and participate in? Why?
Get 5 practical emails to help you follow Jesus with a friend.
158 friends have opened a study shared with them.