Teatime Discipleship: Celebrating Christ Through CommunityChikamu

Christ Is Relational

We are made for love; we thrive best where we have community—someone who sees us, who cares for our thoughts and feelings, who is willing to invest the treasure of time with us.

One of the things I love and appreciate most about Christ is that He is relational too. He lived His story on earth through companionship with real people—friends, His disciples, children, prostitutes, and misfits. In Jesus’s real-time interaction with people on earth, He showed the world what God is really like. The author of Hebrews says that, “[Jesus] is the radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature (1:3).”

The more time we invest in our relationship with Him, the more we allow His presence, His stories, and His reality to become part of our being. And the more we become like Christ, the more we mimic His reality to others, showing a needy world what love is like. Jesus teaches His disciples that we love like He does when we love one another sacrificially: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:12-13).

Becoming Relational Like Christ

Women long for friendship and companionship in this isolationist world. We can’t sit around and wait for it; we must do two things: initiate the very fellowship we long for and be committed disciples of Christ.

Initiate Fellowship

Lone ranger women who depend on no one but themselves, relying on their own strength, are more prone to giving up, giving in to depression, and quitting their ideals. We weren’t made to live in isolation. The faith of believers around you feeds your faith and fills your heart. Timothy received that same kind of grace from his friend and mentor Paul, and Paul had Barnabas, the “Son of Encouragement,” as a source of grace in his life. Paul tells Timothy, “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others,” (2 Timothy 2:2). When women seek out and cultivate fellowship, a community thrives and multiplies.

Disciples Develop Disciples

A disciple is, at her core, a dedicated learner who follows the teacher. She models the teacher in all she does; her actions flow not from mere obedience to laws or culture, but from the heart and her relationship with the teacher. Through witnessing her life, others will experience the teacher’s message for themselves. When you listen to or read the words of others who study and think deeply about God’s Word and the life of faith, you are nourished by the overflow of their maturity, wisdom, and insight; your mind is strengthened and sharpened by their words. And then you can become that source of life and encouragement to someone else.