Is it nice to be supported by family and friends?
Indeed, it is!
I won’t share all the ways I have been supported by family and friends because that is going to take forever to write them I think. But I’m going to choose just several examples to share with everyone.
My father told me to be independent. He taught me how to catch a bus, how to shop, etc.
My friend helped me to open my own bank account and to have support from the New Zealand Government.
Other friends of mine want to help me to become independent so much that they bought Hillsong and aeroplane tickets to Sydney for me. Although we got side-tracked because they wanted to show the best hospitality as possible and I want to enjoy a nice and free vacation, I have learned how to live with flatmates.
It is so good to be in unity with others in a supportive environment!
Jesus-centred/Christian Perspective of Unity
And guess what? As devout followers of Jesus, we are all meant to be in unity with one another or at least, we should try to be.
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm chapter 133, verse 1)
Are we meant to be united, even though God has created each one of us differently and that we have been scattered around the world? Yes and no.
It is no in the sense that we are to be united and make ourselves to be high in authority like God. This is why God has scattered people around the world (Genesis chapter 11, verses 1-9).
But yes in regards to honouring God, who has created us and who sent Jesus Christ to save us from spiritual torment and death. In fact, the reason that Jesus sacrificed His life is not only to save us individually but to save us corporately (John chapter 11, verses 51-52). So that we may worship and glorify God together as one body of Christ.
Remember that I wrote about the world becoming distorted and about us becoming commissioned participants in restoring the world in part two of “The Mission of God”?
God wants us to become involved in His work to understand more of Him and that we have the privilege of living as children of God. One of the involvements we could participate in is becoming united with others.
If there is no unity through faith in Jesus Christ, how are we going to reconcile the world by ourselves?
Since we are mini creatures of God, compared to the vastness of the world, we need to join hands with other believers to bring everything under the reign of Jesus Christ (Colossians chapter 1, verses 15-23). This is why God gives each one of us different gifts (Romans chapter 12, verses 3-8; 1 Peter chapter 4, verses 10-11).
Bringing everything under the reign of God essentially means bringing everyone into the maturity of having “unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God,” by using our special gifts (Ephesians chapter 4, verses 7-16).
Christian communities are witnesses of Christ as they also influence others to know what Christ is really like through godly transformations they have.
Jesus prayed before God for His disciples before He was sacrificed and said,
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John chapter 17, verses 20-23)
Intimate Relationship
The Holy Trinity is the combination of God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. They are so intimate to each other that they are One Being. Like the Holy Trinity, we are to have an intimate relationship with each other.
My friends have been asked to critique my writing as best as they can. Although I don’t like to see that my writing needs a lot of work, I appreciate that they are treating my writing harshly because it helps me start to know what I need to improve on.
Proofreading my work started three years ago and as a result, I’m much better at English now and thinking theologically. Nowadays, I get only a few mistakes and I receive an A grade.
One of them and I are work well in a pair. She teaches me English and I teach her theology. And of course, we also talk about our lives and pray for each other.
Although my other friend and I are in the same task—the ministry of reconciliation—but our methods are different, we encourage and critique each other in perspective of God’s mission. This is also because we think alike theologically.
So, what is being united mean in your context and how can you make that happen?
Kevin Park’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/kevin-park.html
Kevin Park is studying at Carey Baptist College and finds that Christian-writing is his ultimate will of God and his ultimate method to build the kingdom of God. He started to become a Christian writer from 2013. Other than his writing life, Kevin desires to see that each finds everlasting satisfaction in God, the Almighty. You will be able to contact him at kevin.park1991@gmail.com. He loves to encourage others spiritually.
Kevin Park’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/kevin-park.html