Where You at, Jesus? Oh yeah, in Community!
Christopher Officer
Where You at, Jesus? Oh Yeah, In
Community! (Community – Why
Fellowship is Important)
Can we find Jesus apart from His church? I ask this question of Scripture because I am desperate; Where
You at, Jesus? I found that I have only grown this much, and my growth seems less than perfect, very
lopsided, imperfect in my understanding of my gifts and purpose, listless and anxious, waiting for
perfection but now beginning to doubt that it will ever come.
And my sin, what do I do with it? I check it at the door as I walk in to church, only to pick it up as I leave,
a love/hate relationship, and I hear that where Jesus is there is liberty(2 Cor 3: 17Now the Lord is the
Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.); but where is my liberty? Does that mean I’m
not really where Jesus is? Where you at, Jesus?
I want to tell you from the start of this message that Jesus, and the Spirit of Liberty, is found in
community with God and His people. You cannot see nor have the fullness of God but through people,
and you cannot truly see people except through God. You cannot be separate from one or the other or
both and find your purpose or see liberty and freedom in your life. You need God and you need people.
In the scripture, light is representative of God, His righteousness and holiness. As God’s children we are
called Children of the light, meaning that we are familiar with and live in the light, where there is
nothing hidden. That means that God is light and transparency, and we His family ought to live in the
light and grow in transparency.
The Church of Acts 2 showed the power of unity when the brethren live in the light, that they had all
things in common, meaning that every holy or unholy sacred item each had, every special thing that
they felt made them unique to God was shared until it became a common thing. The light revealed
good, bad, or indifferent, and that light brought all to a common ground, at the foot of the cross, to the
healing blood of the Lamb, and to the forgiveness of sin. The Apostle John lived this event and walked in
the church in this culture of transparency until he was an old man, then he penned these words to those
who would come after:
1 John 1:5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is
no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and
do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make
him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (NIV)
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Where You at, Jesus? Oh yeah, in Community!
Christopher Officer
There are three things that John noted that will break that unity and these we will explore in this short
message:
Unity Breaker #1: saying we are in God, but we run from community.
1 John 1:5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is
no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and
do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
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The message has been clear from the beginning; God is light and in Him there is no darkness at
all (talk about mentor and his “black/white” comment).
This light is transparency, but the darkness is secret. The bible is clear that men hate the light
because their deeds are evil. John 3: 19-21“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into
the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness
because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of
doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a
painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so
the work can be seen for the God-work it is.” (MSG). If we live out the truth in light, we have
fellowship with Jesus, but if we prefer not to get close to God or people for fear that our deeds
be exposed, we lie if we say we have fellowship with God.
Darkness is then for those who love the statuesque, who don’t desire real change. But for those
who desire real change fellowship with light, and they find that light in fellowship with other
believers. If we are not willing to risk exposure in order to grow, we destroy Unity’s chance to
grow in our midst.
It is in close community with Others that we find the redemptive & restorative work of the
Blood of Christ in full function; this is the gateway into Unity.
Unity Breaker #2: saying we have the truth in us, but we live in sindenial.
1 John 1: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us.
Ok, so we’ve pushed through into community, meaning we have stepped nearer to the light, and things
are beginning to heat up around a topic that makes us uncomfortable. What do we do next?
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As the Spirit reveals a sin-flaw in us, it is our opportunity and obligation to take that flaw into
the light and there have it examined and dealt with. (what should this look like?). James 5:
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Where You at, Jesus? Oh yeah, in Community!
Christopher Officer
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16Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
But if we hear the voice of the Spirit and decide to not take that sin-behavior into the light, we
lie to ourselves that the truth is at work in our lives. If we remain here for any amount of time,
we will be unable to remain or advance in the light, and this will hamper the growth of unity.
Every time we drag the sin into the light, the darkness flees, the sinner is healed and forgiven,
and unity in the Body grows.
Unity Breaker #3: saying that the Word has access to us, but believe we
no longer need the Cross.
1 John 1:8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If
we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Ok, so we’ve decided to push through into community, and we have even decided to drag our sins into
the light and we have been healed from them, but then what? Should my growth and the growth of
Unity stop here?
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Many, upon receiving healing found in close community, move into a mission or ministry of their
own. This is the natural order of discipleship, but here is a pitfall to continued unity; to forget
that we are sinners saved by grace and our desperate need for a Savior.
The Scripture speaks of those who are forgiven much love much, but we tend to forget that we
were forgiven so much, especially in our administration of our ministries towards believers who
are struggling with dragging their stuff into the light. We forget grace, and so we cease to
operate in it towards others. We forget how much was pardoned, and so we love little.
God’s word is active in us when we continue to recognize our continual need for redemption
and grace, but if we think that we have somehow “arrived” (if we claim that sin is no longer an
issue in us), we expose a truth about us; His word is not active in us any longer.
Unity then is matured and achieves its ultimate goal when we turn to serve others with the
same grace we have received; we have not arrived, but we say with Jesus, “As I have seen my
Father do, so I do likewise” and pour out grace.
Close:
Our challenge to grow as a Christian and as a Church has always been answering the call to step into the
light and continuing to do it. Will you join me in shaking off the darkness, shadow and shade in any
capacity that the Spirit has revealed it in your life today, and stepping to the bright and revealing Word
of Truth?
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