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As my 50th birthday approached, my wife and I started planning. We hadn’t thrown a party in ages, and celebrating with friends would be a wonderful way to mark my jubilee year. So we got invitations printed, bunting ordered, and music playlists ready.

But welcoming a hundred people to our small terrace home required some larger decisions to be made. With so many people coming, should we pay a caterer to cook? If we do the cooking ourselves, should we buy a barbeque? With a small chance of rain on the day, should we buy a marquee too? Soon our party was getting expensive, and sorting everything ourselves was burdensome.

The Bible’s vision of community is one of both giving and receiving. Even before the Fall, Adam needed help (Genesis 2:18), and we’re called to seek each other’s advice and share each other’s burdens (Proverbs 15:22, Galatians 6:2). The early church exemplified this, holding everything in common and benefiting from each other’s property and possessions (Acts 2:44–45). Instead of living independently, they shared, borrowed, gave, and received in beautiful interdependence. Surely the deep community they experienced flowed from this mutual sharing.

By providing everything ourselves, my wife and I wouldn’t just empty our bank account – we would miss an opportunity to deepen our relationships. So instead, we asked guests to bring a salad or dessert to the party, we asked our neighbours to bring their barbeque, and our friend Steve brought his marquee. The party was wonderful, the variety of food was a delight, and everyone who shared their goods with us this way went on to become closer friends.

In an age like ours, being self-sufficient can be a source of pride. In truth, it’s our greatest source of isolation. The deep loneliness felt in our generation might be halved if our first thought was to borrow instead of buy to meet our needs. By humbling ourselves and asking for help, we allow others to be generous to us – and tighten the ties that bind us.

Prayer:

Pray for the humility to ask for help and the grace to receive it with gratitude. Ask God to strengthen the bonds of your community through mutual sharing and generosity, so that relationships grow deeper and hearts grow closer. Pray that you might both give and receive in ways that reflect the beauty of God’s design for interdependence.

Take a 40acts challenge today:

1. What item have you been thinking of buying that you could ask to borrow from a friend?
2. How could you share something that you own; your home, car, garden tools, with someone else?
3. Create a church or community 'sharing hub'. Invite others to contribute second-hand tools, books, or whatever the collective need is, and advertise this for people to use.