Sheep Stay Connected to the Flock

There's a myth floating around modern Christianity that's slowly killing the church: "It's just me and Jesus, and that's enough."

Sounds spiritual, doesn't it? Just you and the Savior, no need for messy relationships or complicated church stuff. But here's the problem, that might be a Western Christian mindset, but it's not a biblical one.

Go all the way back to Genesis 2:18. God looked at Adam in the Garden of Eden and said, "It is not good that man should be alone." This was before sin entered the world.

Everything was perfect, Adam had direct access to God, and yet God said something wasn't right. Adam was alone.

So God created Eve, not just as a companion, but to establish a principle that would carry through all of Scripture: We are created for relationship. We are not meant to be isolated.

In John 10, Jesus said something profound: "I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd."

Jesus was the chief shepherd, and He was bringing together Jews and Gentiles, all of us, into one flock. Not scattered individuals doing their own thing, but a unified community under one shepherd.

When Scripture uses the word "flock," it's describing the church, a community of believers, the unity of a group under one shepherd.

Here's where it gets real. Romans 12:5 says, "We who are many are one body in Christ and individually we are members who belong to one another." Did you catch that? We belong to one another.

This isn't about showing up on Sunday, looking at the back of someone's head, and calling it fellowship. That's attendance, not belonging.

Real life doesn't happen sitting in rows, it happens when you get out of the row and sit in a circle with people who know you beyond your name.

You know how easy it is to live for Jesus by yourself? In your prayer closet, everything's great. You can worship without worrying if you're off-key. You can pray without messing up the words. It's just you and Jesus having a wonderful time.

But then you close the door and encounter people. People who haven't been where you've been. People with different opinions, preferences, and ways of doing things. People who, let's be honest, can be sandpaper in your life.

Here's the truth: Nothing God shows you in private is proven until it's lived out in the context of relationships. God wants your horizontal life to reflect your vertical life. If you can't take what God showed you in private and put it into practice when real life happens, you haven't learned enough yet.

When you belong to the body of Christ, several things are true:

• You are placed, not random. God intentionally designed a body for you to fit into. You're not an accident. You're strategically fitted.
• You are needed, not optional. Your gifts matter. Your presence matters. Your encouragement matters. Your story matters.
• You share life, not just space. Belonging is more than just sitting near people, it's walking with people, bearing burdens together, grieving together, celebrating together.
• You walk in mutual responsibility. We are our brother's keeper. We care about each other's growth and carry each other's burdens.
• You find identity, not just activity. You're part of a family, joined to a purpose, functioning as part of God's mission on earth.

We live in a consumerist culture that wants church to be about us, the style we like, the timeframe that works, the ministries we prefer. But Christianity is not a consumer relationship. It's a covenant relationship.

If you hurt my feelings, we work through it. If you offend me, I forgive. If something doesn't go my way, I die to myself. That's covenant. And yes, it gets messy. Where there are people, grab a shovel.

1. Do I truly see myself as part of the body or just an individual who occasionally attends?
2. Am I consistently connected or drifting to the edges?
3. Do I act like I don't need the body or treat others as if they aren't needed?
4. Am I following the chief shepherd or letting personal preference influence my connection?

Here's the bottom line:
You are limiting your own growth when you isolate. You are limiting the freedom of God in your life when you don't feel like you need anyone else.

The church isn't perfect. It can be messy. But it's still God's plan A. And He designed you to grow in the context of relationship with one another.

You were never meant to walk alone.