My country esteems “rugged individualism”—the idea that truly strong people do things on their own. The icon of this peculiar value was the Lone Ranger, a famous fictional cowboy of radio and the silver screen, and a solitary masked hero that protected others from harm. But it’s interesting to note that the Lone Ranger was hardly alone. He had a trusty horse named Silver and a constant companion named Tonto. Because of this, the supposedly “Lone” Ranger had more friends than many people do!
As poor as this title was for the Lone Ranger, it’s even more so for believers in Jesus. We’re to be anything but alone! The apostle Paul compared the church to the human body made up of many parts, declaring, “each of you is a part of it”(1 Corinthians 12:27). And yet, time and time again, we try to live our Christian lives on our own, playing the role of a body part that simply doesn’t need the rest of the body (1 Corinthians 12:19-21).
At the end of 1 Corinthians 12, Paul provides a clue about how we can resist the tendency to go it alone: by remaining on mission. Individualism is an illusion made possible only by inactivity. But when we’re living out God’s mission, it becomes abundantly clear that no one person can do the entire work of the church. Instead, we need all the gifts of the entire body to carry out God’s call to make disciples and preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 12:28-29).
So long as we remain committed to living out the Great Commission given to us in Matthew 28:18-20, it becomes clear that there’s no such thing as a “lone” believer in Jesus. We love and worship a God of relationship. And He’s designed us to interact and experience fellowship with Him and other believers.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Samuel 8:6-22
More:
Read Romans 12:3-5 to see how Paul ties our relationships with other believers to the value of humility.
Next:
What are your individual skills and spiritual gifts? How does God want you to use them?
BearPair on March 22, 2016 at 3:22 am
Great, Peter–thanks! How prolific, that the more we declare ourselves “lone” rugged individuals, in truth, we are highly dependent upon others. The further we get from the “pod,” the more vulnerable and ineffective we become.
Gary Shultz on March 22, 2016 at 6:12 am
Hi Peter, we have often had the term “rugged individualism” used as a warning at least in our mind set, and men are the biggest offenders. We like to think we are a “handle it all package” As we get older, we like to stick closer to the “pod”, we have seen our weakness. The “rugged individualist” will probably be disappointed in heaven because it appears we will live as a large family with the great ability to interact and enjoy friendships. The other problem as you have focused, we can’t get done what God has for us to do as a “lone ranger”. We are entertained with many images of heroes saving the world by themselves. We just have to realize history seems to tells us the greatest events were leaders who could bring people together and motivate them for a greater cause. Submission is much larger than swagger. Thanks Peter.
sandy229 on March 22, 2016 at 10:31 am
I don’t think anyone will be disappointed in Heaven, but I do get what you mean. It’s hard to believe that one can live for Jesus and not want to share the wealth with other believers. I think they are the “missing pieces” of the puzzle.
gagirllive on March 22, 2016 at 7:50 am
“Sanctification is a community project”, says John Piper. We need each other to become who we were meant to be in the Body of Christ. We are interdependent. Your gifts are for my benefit and mine for yours. Every part/member has significance no matter how small we think we are. Just stomp your little toe and see how the whole body is affected. 🙂 Thanks for this good reminder today, Peter.
sandy229 on March 22, 2016 at 10:27 am
Thanks Peter. We had this lesson in the Sunday School class I teach at church. I wanted to do something that would help them understand what it was like to have only one part of the body. I used a puzzle as an illustration and put 2 pieces of the puzzle in each little gift bag, then told them to hold on to the bag until the end of the class. At the end of the class I told all of them to reach into their bags and take out the pieces. Apart from the other pieces, they are meaningless. We all got down on the floor and put all the pieces together until it formed into one. I explained to them that this is what is it like if all the parts of the body work together to form one body. They are useless alone, but together they form one just like the body of Christ, they are useless apart from the other pieces. This is what it is like in the body of Christ. Every part links together to form one body.