25.2 Responsible Together
God designed me in a very strange way and He has led me on a seemingly contradictory path. I NEED my life to be woven together with the lives of others, yet I have zero interest in relationships not built upon commitment to the House of God and the revelation of Christ. Therefore I am unfulfilled except I find others of like mind who are committed to this weaving together of our lives for this purpose of God through us.
Here is God by His Spirit, here is our togetherness upon this earth, God and flesh together. What is the joining point? What is the soul of the body? The thing that makes it all real is our fellowship inside of all.
Fellowship. Our treasure is the weaving together of our lives, as Paul said. The weaving together of our lives is called fellowship from Saxon, koinonia from Greek, and communion from Latin.
Consider each one of the ten ruling verses, as it describes the House of God, as a large room in itself. Then consider any combination of two or three of those verses as another room, hundreds of combinations. Or consider each one as an organ of the Body of God, or a portion of the tapestry that is the unfolding of God. What is it that exists inside of each of those rooms/organs that makes it ALIVE? – Our human fellowship together. It is this fellowship that entwines our self-stories together as the very Soul of God expressed in heaven-earth.
Becoming Real. I began this lesson thinking that it would be about our fellowship together. I wrote awhile before realizing that my topic was not what needed to be here. For that reason, I set this lesson aside for a time. I have come back to it now, keeping the first two slides I had written, but with a much deeper purpose.
We are still considering the weaving together of the tapestry of our lives and the treasure of our fellowship together. But I have realized through difficult experience and much reflection that the weaving of our self-stories together in shared fellowship can happen only as we are real.
Sharing responsibility together makes us real as God’s firstfruits.
Sharing Responsibility. One of the things that caused my disconnection from the Blueberry eldership was my observation of a false sense of “responsibility” for “the kingdom.” I know now that the problem was NOT the sense of responsibility. The problem, rather, was a misunderstanding of God, of His Salvation, and of His purpose for Community.
At the present moment, I find myself gaining rest and courage from my memory of the deep and wonderful examples of sharing responsibility that I observed in that circle. What I WANT, what I long for deeply, is to share that same weight of responsibility with others of like-mind with me in the knowledge of God and of what Christ Community really is.
Defining Firstfruits. I do not want to leave the purpose of this course, however, and that is to define “the human,” or it’s guiding idea, which is that a human is one who is just like the Lord Jesus Christ. We then define “firstfruits” as those who become fully human first, as examples for those who will follow them.
As I now understand the Kingdom, I can say, of truth, that the essence of being firstfruits, just like Jesus, is to share with Him that deep burden of responsibility for the Kingdom, both for the Father’s intense desire and for those who are members of His Body. Just as I need God, so God needs me. Just as I need you in the gathering together of life, so you also need me.
Great Weight of Value. Here are example verses that show us some of the direction and meaning of this responsibility.
Brothers and sisters, if a man or woman should be caught in some offense or error, you who are spiritual restore such a one inside of a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Carry one another’s great weight of value, and thus you shall complete the law of Christ to full measure (Galatians 6:1-2).
Now, I rejoice in sufferings for your sake, and I am filling up that which is lacking of the travailing pressures of Christ in my flesh for the sake of His Body, which is the Church, of which I became a servant, according to the stewardship of God having been given me into you, to make the Word of God full and complete (Colossians 1:24-25).
Accomplishing All. Jesus, in all that He is, lives inside of us as all that we are and is our very and only life. Therefore, the great weight of responsibility resting upon Jesus to fulfill all the Father’s desire, also rests upon us as Jesus shares Himself with us.
Consider these two lines. So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). – Now, when He [Father God] shall have placed all under Him [Christ Jesus], then also the Son Himself will be placed under the One having placed all under Him, so that God may be all inside of all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
What God Wants. God sent Jesus to accomplish His Desire; Jesus cannot return to the Father in completion until He has accomplished all. God WANTS to be seen and known by all creation through His Church as communities of Christ.
Here is the dividing line between boys and girls on the one hand and men and women on the other, the dividing line between firstfruits and those who prefer to know union with Christ as little more than a lovely dance through fields of flowers. I care about what God my Father wants far more than I care about what you might want. Yet because I know that God my Father WANTS to be love among us, I embrace you inside that love and carry you with Father, regardless of the cost to me OR TO YOU.
A Being Who Carries. God wants to be known through His Church, specifically, through the weaving together of the life stories of small local churches, a weaving together in fellowship. The next lesson is the togetherness of our authority, synergeoing together, going out from Christ Community as God MEANS Community to be.
A human, then, is a being who carries the full responsibility of Christ Jesus for that gathering together in a local fellowship, that God might know His desire fulfilled among us, that all things might be returned to the Father inside of Jesus as His Church, that God might be all inside of all.
What, then, does it mean to be responsible, to carry the weight of the joining together of others inside one’s heart?
Defining Responsible.
Responsible (Webster’s 1926): 2. Liable to respond; likely to be called upon to answer; accountable; answerable. 4. Able to respond or answer for one’s conduct and obligations; trustworthy.
In my mind, the word “responsible” carries an additional meaning not expressed here. To be responsible is to carry a sense that says, “I am the one who must carry this thing through to completion. If others help me with the obligation, good, but if not, still, I will stay at the task, or continue carrying the needs of others until it is finished.” If we were to think of ourselves as separate from Jesus, then this sense towards the Church would be presumption. But we are NOT separate from Him, and He shares all that He is with us.
Giving an Account. Responsible means “called upon to answer, accountable.” Paul spoke of his own stewardship; Jesus spoke of stewards giving an account of their stewardship.
I have learned that giving an account in the presence of a God who is All Here Now means that we are giving our account every moment. The best thing about giving an account, however, is that it is not a weight of obligation, but rather, a placing of the Lord Jesus Christ upon ourselves in all that we do. When I commit myself to walk together with other individuals as a Community of Christ, I place the watchcare of the Lord Jesus for our togetherness upon my own commitment.
The Father’s Heart. Let’s now define the specifics of that responsibility inside of and for a Community of Christ using the “structure of life together” from the last lesson. “Conformed to the Site” means that one who is firstfruits places the Desire and Intentions of the Father above all and before anything else.
As a firstfruits of Christ committed to my local Church, I place myself face-down upon the floor in the presence of All-Majesty, for if our habitation together is not inside the Father and for His purposes alone, then we are utterly delusional and lost. I say with Moses, “God, if You are not with us in Person, then we’re going nowhere.” This is a private bearing of cost, as Moses and Paul both did, inside the Fire for the Father’s sake.
Place and Belonging. Restore such a one inside of a spirit of gentleness. – Through every joint of its supply or provision, according to the energeia inside the sharing from every part (Ephesians 4:16).
First is to take on the responsibility to ensure that each individual member of the gathering KNOWS their precious union with Jesus and identifies themselves entirely with Him. Second is to take on the responsibility to ensure that each individual member of the gathering has a place to belong inside the Church, and the opportunity to share Christ out from themselves, a sharing that is received by others. This is the building of rooms inside and out, rooms for God and for each brother and sister, rooms to know and rooms to share.
Safety and Spirit. The world hates you as it hated Me (John 15-16). – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Much of the time people can’t tell the difference between themselves and a demon. Much of the time people imagine that the world is “okay.” Protection from demons and the entrance of the Holy Spirit are two sides of the same thing, sometimes called “covering.”
I take upon myself the responsibility to bind your pet demons and cast them down, even while receiving you as the Lord Jesus. And I take upon myself the responsibility to ensure that you are being led by the Devoted Spirit and not me or my ideas – or the deceiving spirits you have called yourself – or by the pressures of this world.
Order and Ministry. Humans cannot walk together without guidelines for conduct, normally called “rules.” Just as Jesus takes upon Himself the cost of rules broken, so He shares with us that same taking on of cost. This means that, even while the one who “broke” the rules will learn, yet they will not be destroyed. To be responsible is to be the goodness of God that leads to repentance towards each one. This is a Godly proportion, the true meaning of “union with Christ.”.
Then, the flow into the knowledge of God, that is, that path each member takes, is overseen by those who bear the responsibility to ensure that it is God who is the knowing of each one, that each member of the Church is released into their next step in the knowledge of God.
Hheart. Being responsible for the essence of Love inside the local Church means two things. First, it means walking always as an example of confidence in God-among-us, that all our interactions are through a God who is Love, calling them to be so. And second, it means being responsible for each member of that body to enjoy full privacy and full togetherness.
Love is respect for personal privacy; Love is the enjoyment of togetherness. This is a costly responsibility, much more than we can know right now; it is the place of sharing Hheart with God.
Outlook and Connections. There can be no true ministry outward if Love is not the center and core of any local Church. And that Love is the respect for privacy and the enjoyment of togetherness. Yet a healthy Community will always have a view towards that which is beyond, and will maintain places of connection with the general population.
Connections outward are NOT separate from the togetherness of the Church, however. Connections outward are something we do together. We share a responsibility towards the triumphal procession, the celebration of all victory, the knowledge of Jesus going forth into every place. The Ark always went forth upon the shoulders of the priests walking together.
A Kaleidoscope of Personality. We think of the House of God in terms of the universal and of the local, always at the same time. This House of God, then, is made up of millions upon millions of individual believers in Jesus, each one precious beyond measure and completely unique. But we can’t know the millions personally, and when a local Church increases above a hundred members, it’s real easy for the individual to get lost in the crowd.
Carrying the responsibility of Christ inside the local Church means ensuring before God that the Father’s expression of personality through each member is valued and known, and that all the direction of the Community comes out from the kaleidoscope of personality that is Father in this local place.
A Fellowship Known by Few. Throughout this discussion of sharing with Jesus the responsibility to carry inside the local Church, we have never been talking about any one individual, but rather, about two or three at the least, and often just a few more.
This is a responsibility together, a close sharing of COST.
We have spoken much about sharing Hheart with God, but we know NOTHING of such a reality as individuals separate from this fellowship together of bearing the cost of the revelation of Christ inside the local Church, a cost shared together in a fellowship known only by a few. Sharing Hheart with God is unknown outside of this commitment to be responsible together.
Describing Firstfruits. The Christ of God is the One who carries all. – Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
The Firstfruits of Christ are those who become real humans, just like the Lord Jesus, sharing together this fellowship that is desired and known only by a few. They are then firstfruits by walking as examples of that same carrying grace towards those who follow.
“Me all by myself” has no existence inside of Firstfruits; it has no place in sharing Hheart with God. Firstfruits is the depth of fellowship found among those who carry together, with Jesus, the responsibility that all are yielded to the Father’s Desire, that God is KNOWN as all inside of all.