Nowhere in the Bible do we find any reference to the idea of being a “Lone Ranger” Christian.  Nowhere do we read of the importance of making this spiritual journey by ourselves.  Quite the contrary, the Bible talks over and over again about the importance of having fellowship and kinship with someone else.  I mean, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!

In the very beginning of the church of Jesus Christ we see this played out.  In Acts 2, Pentecost has taken place, Peter has preached this amazing message and about three thousand souls were added to the kingdom that day.  The very next verse says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the FELLOWSHIP, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous sings were done by the apostles.  All the believers were TOGETHER and had everything in common.” (Acts 2:42-44)  They devoted themselves to the teaching of the Word and to fellowship.  We all need that!  I need that and you need that.   

The writer of Hebrews penned the following words in Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…”  In these verses the writer is telling us that we need to pursue the community of believers.  There are two words in those verses that jump out at me.

• The first word is “spur.”  Everyone knows and understands the picture that comes to mind when you hear that word.  It is the idea of spurring a horse to move.  As believers we are to “spur” our fellow believers toward something, and that something is love and good deeds.  That can only happen as we are building relationships with each other, and as we are encouraging and supporting one another.  If we are not doing that for each other, pretty soon discouragement, doubt and loneliness can begin to creep in.
• The second word is “habit.”  It is so easy to get into the habit of not meeting and fellowshipping together.  You’ve heard it said, “It takes 21 days to develop a habit, but only 3 days to break one.”  The same is true when it comes to meeting together.  We miss Sunday service, or our small group, a couple of times and pretty soon we’ve fallen into a routine (habit) of missing all the time.  And believe me, the enemy will give you enough reasons to miss because he does not want you to be encouraged and supported.  We are much more vulnerable by ourselves.  The lion always attacks the one that gets separated from the herd.

We live in a world where being a Christ-follower is not the most popular thing.  Jesus told us that it would be that way.  With that being the case, it is all the more vital that we have the support and encouragement of one another.  That can only take place as we meet together.  The enemy is the lion wanting to devour, and if he can get us separated off by ourselves, he will pounce with discouragement, doubt and whatever it takes to bring us down.  We really do need each other, because remember, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto!

God Bless!