The Whole Gospel for the Whole Man: Part 2

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

In a previous post, we talked about how the “brain-on-a-stick” view of humanity can lead to an impoverished discipleship, all head and no heart; we spoke of how the Gospel speaks not just to our head but also to our imagination. In fact, the sanctifying work of the Spirit takes place deep in our hearts, reshaping not just our minds but also our appetites and desires.

This week we consider the second way the whole Gospel is for the whole man: we are not isolated beings, we are social beings, and our discipleship must be corporate, not just individual.

When God created the earth, He congratulated Himself at the end of each day. “It is good,” He said, and later, “It is very good.” What was He looking at the first time He pronounced “not good” over something He had made? He was looking at the man. “It is not good that man should be alone.”

The three Persons of the Trinity had enjoyed one another’s company from eternity past. In making this pronouncement over the solitary man, God is acknowledging that if man is to reflect His image, man must also, like his Creator, be social.

We were designed to live in the company of others.  

A “brain-on-a-stick” approach to discipleship syncs nicely with Western individualism. It appeals to my vanity to suppose that I am self-sufficient, able to manage things on my own. But I know better. I’m not a hermit living off the land in the wild; my physical well-being depends on an entire infrastructure of systems and people whose labors provide the goods and services that sustain me physically. I can thrive physically only because I am part of a community.

The same thing is true of my spiritual well-being. Once I put my faith in Christ, once the Spirit has taken up residence in my life, I join a living community that stretches across the world and back and forward in time. I am part of God’s family, which means that I have spiritual kinfolk in Mongolia, in the first century church, and in the New Jerusalem.

So my faith is not merely a personal experience; it is also a social experience. This social aspect of my faith is enormous, for several reasons.

• I heard someone say that our main job as believers is helping one another continue to believe. I think she was right. We all struggle with discouragement and bewilderment that can make spiritual truths seem irrelevant; we often need to lean on the faith of others to buoy our own faith. My Christian brothers and sisters are not just friends, they are fellow travelers on the same spiritual journey. My Christian kinfolk and I depend on one another not just for emotional and material support but also – and more importantly – for spiritual support.

• Hearing and reading and studying the Scripture together helps us maintain solid theological footing. It would be the height of naivete and arrogance for me to imagine that I can fully know God’s Word simply by reading by myself. My theology isn’t merely the result of a meeting of me and Jesus and my Bible; it is the product of centuries of Christian theological reflection along with the views and insights of the people I listen to.

• I once heard a Christian counselor say that we are only as healthy as our secrets. He was right. We need one another for confession. James connects confession of our sin to one another to our health: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). To thrive spiritually, we all need people who know us in our faults and sins and love us anyway.

• We need to worship together. Sure, we can catch the livestream; we can access the content (the music, the preaching). And for some people, that is the closest they can come to being with God’s people. But one thing we cannot do at home in our pajamas is gather with the people of God to celebrate the goodness of God. When we gather in worship, we are “voting with our feet” to be with God’s family – enjoying, encouraging, and being encouraged by one another.

This is why I say that the whole Gospel is for the whole man.

Discipleship that ignores my imagination and my relationships is shortsighted and sure to falter. My spiritual formation is not just about my mind, and it’s certainly not just about me. I need the whole Gospel not only to penetrate my mind, but also to quicken my imagination and enrich my relationships.

Persevere,
Paul Pyle
Pastor of Discipleship