5 Values to Becoming a Biblical Community Member

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We know how important it is to be surrounded by biblically minded people. We know that we need people around us who are committed to faithfully following God, but we need those relationships to be more than Sunday morning highlights or mid-week bible studies.

We need a community of people that will rally around us and be part of our lives. These people don’t just know the big updates in your life (New job! Baby on the way!), but also know your day-to-day walk.

These relationships can spiritually transform our lives because they are authentic and engaging. They encourage us to keep pursing Christ and they encourage us in the thick of life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian, said, “The Christian, however, must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated.”

To have a community, you must be the community first. How do you go about becoming a person that is invested in others and that both admonishes and encourages your own community? How do you bear the burden of your brothers?

Before we can engage in a community of our own, we need to be sure that we are faithfully pursuing five specific values.

Spend Time With God

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To be a healthy part of a community, we need to be a person that values spending time with God daily. This might look like prayer or bible reading or journaling, but whatever it is, we need to constantly be talking with God.

Charles Spurgeon said in an 1863 sermon, “I must take care above all that I cultivate communion with Christ, for though that can never be the basis of my peace - mark that - yet it will be the channel of it.”

Our peace comes from God and we will be able to show God’s glory if we are constantly immersed in it. A personal relationship with God is the most important value we can have in pursuing biblical community.

John 5:5 says, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

A biblical community starts with just that— biblical devotion. Are you devoting yourself to building your relationship with God?

Be Authentic

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It’s easy to filter our lives for others. We want them to see the best of our lives— the pretty pictures and the chipper faces, the open bible photos, the happy family, but if we want true biblical community, we need to learn authenticity.

Ann Voskamp, the bestselling author of “One Thousand Gifts,” said, "I have felt it—how no one wants anything of anyone but to be honest and real and to trust enough to take off the mask."

Take off your mask. Share both the praises and the heartaches in your life with people you love and trust. That honesty lets people know that you are willing to admit that you are faulted and you need God and that’s OK. A healthy community will take those struggles and pray over them with you.

James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Too often we try to hide our real lives. Make a point to live authentically.

Invest in Meaningful Relationships

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If you have a strong group of relationships with biblically minded people, pursue them with brotherly love. People want to know they are needed. People want to be invited to coffee and lunch. People want to know they are loved.

Romans 12 tells us, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.”

Constantly ask yourself if you are pursuing your biblical community or if you have become sidetracked with your own lives. Be willing to put aside your own needs for others and invest in deep relationships with others.

We all seem to want these deep relationships. We want people who will not cancel plans with us and people who show up for us. First, be one of those people. Stick to your word and be there for your community.

Maybe this looks like a quick text or an invitation to dinner. Maybe it looks like cheering them on at their first marathon. Whatever the case, invest in those meaningful relationships that encourage others.

Be an Encouragement

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Speaking of encouragement— be an encouraging person. A healthy biblical community needs members who are willing to encourage at all times, even if it isn’t easy.

Encouragement might be prayers for a good job interview or luck on an upcoming test, but it can also be encouragement to make hard decisions. Be willing to be that kind of encouragement too. With a biblical mindset and in brotherly love, encourage your community to walk faithfully with God.

There’s always room for the fun encouragement too. John C. Maxwell, a pastor and author, said humorously, “Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up.”

Lift each other up. Be a person that radiates encouragement. Work toward being not just a positive influence on your community, but also a person who lovingly pushes each other toward a meaningful walk with Christ.