Independent or Interdependent?
June 19th, 2008How we Americans love our independence! It is independence that makes us who we are. We have even named some of our cities after it, i.e., Independence Missouri. When we think back on our history, we realize what a great price our “Founding Fathers” (and “Founding Mothers”) paid for our freedom and independence from tyranny. Americans hate being controlled by someone else (I think we fought a Civil War over that issue).
That attitude of independence also spills over into our spiritual lives. We tend to be independent and self-directing. We resist direction from leaders and often resent our preachers and teachers when they tell us what to do. After all, they are just people like me, what do they think they are doing?
I recently read a statement that has given me pause. “God does not create us for INDEPENDENCE, he creates us for INTERDEPENDENCE.” What a powerful reminder of God’s intentions and our needs!
Think of the various Bible scenarios where “people need people.” In the creation God gave Adam a helpmeet named “Eve.” He needed the interaction and encouragement of a person as well as God.
Roll the tape forward to the book of Acts after the church was formed. Even the great Apostle Paul would feel the need for interdependence. He encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, was struck blind, and was told to go into the city. There he encountered Ananias and received his sight as well as his baptism. Later, he would need Barnabas to help and direct him. Even later he would need some of the other disciples’ help to survive and continue his preaching ministry all the way to Rome.
Paul certainly needed help from other disciples. Yet, there is something that God puts in us that also shows our need to be helpers. Paul was trained under the Jewish Rabbi, Gamaliel. He becomes a rabbi himself. As a follower of Jesus, Paul takes his rabbinical training and applies it to the church. He trains disciples like the other rabbis did - just like Rabbi Jesus did. One of those disciples was the outcast, Timothy. Paul took him in and trained him to follow Jesus. He later becomes the lead Minister at Ephesus. He learned his lessons well.
We could go on and on with examples. Jesus had his twelve who had one another and then later their own disciples to train. All through the New Testament we read the “one another” passages and are reminded of how interwoven we must be. We are not independent, we are interdependent.
Somewhere I heard or read that the average person will know fifty people by sight and name. If our church is about fifty, we can know everyone and feel connected. The average church in America is somewhere around 100, twice the number we are able to know on average. Bible classes and small groups then become a crucial part of the interdependence we need. Large church services foster the “independent spirit” where we stand alone, unrecognized and uninvolved in the lives of others.
In the smaller settings we become aware of others. We recognize their needs and serve them. They recognize our needs and serve us. In all of this, we continually point one another to Jesus. We are interdependent, not independent!
Keep The Light Burning!
Perry Greene
