We can love God and our neighbors individually, but God means for us to live and work in fellowship with one another. How do you practice authentic relationship-building in your private life and ministry?

Created to Love, Created to Be Loved

This post marks the fifth and final post in a series inspired by our five-lesson unit on environmental stewardship called Learning Together: Created to Care. I specifically say “inspired by” because this blog series is not about environmental stewardship but on other things we are created to do. This series includes:

• Created to Care, Created to Work
• Created in God’s Image (Pride Month)
• Created to Love
• Created to Worship

You might notice that three of those four topics are about our actions (and the Pride Month post is about how we should treat ourselves and others). That is because I believe that God created us to act. As Jesus made clear when he identified the greatest commandments, our lives should be shaped by our love for God and others (and ourselves). But our love for God and others is founded first on God’s infinite, unconditional, and undeserved love for each of us—and humanity as a whole.

It Is Not Good to Be Alone

In the second creation story in Genesis 2, God creates the first human but soon decides that it is not good for this human to be alone. Yes, this is specifically referring to the creation of the first man and woman, but it is true that loneliness has a huge, negative impact on human health. We are created to be in a community.

It is important to note that loneliness is different than solitude—time consciously spent by oneself, often for meditation, self-reflection, or rest. And emotional connectedness (the opposite of loneliness) looks different for different people. Extroverts might fulfill their emotional need for connectedness in large groups or with many people, while introverts might thrive on a smaller number of relationships. What is important is that emotional connections are critical both for maintaining our health—mental and physical—and for improving it.

Community and Fellowship

When we are connected to—in relationship with—multiple people, that is the beginning of a community. I see a community as a web of relationships. And healthy relationships are built on a foundation of trust and empathy—and love. Within English-speaking churches (in my experience), we often use the word “fellowship” when we are talking about community. What I like about this term is that it can be both a noun (meaning a community) and a verb (meaning actions that build up a community). We are, as Paul teaches, members of the Body of Christ. While our deepest point of connection with each other might be the work of the Holy Spirit, fellowshipping is a set of conscious actions that build up this Body as we work for the common good.

Love One Another (Altruism and Community-Building)

Altruism can be defined as:

Behavior that benefits another individual at a cost to oneself.

(APA article)

Research is showing that altruism might be an innate and universal quality of humans. As a general rule, altruistic actions make us happy. And this behavior can be, in our faith tradition, considered acts of love. So, it’s reasonable to conclude that humans are created to love others. We are broken people, so we certainly do this imperfectly. But it is still part of who God created us to be.

Altruism can be directed at people within a group that we are a part of (family, friends, club, congregation, etc.) or people outside of that group. “Outsider” altruism fits best in Jesus’ call to love others as demonstrated by the Samaritan in one of his parables. In terms of faith practices, this would fall under the category of service. I covered that in my post on “Created to Love.”

Altruism toward those already connected to us, “insider” altruism fits within Jesus’ call for us to “love one another” (John 13:34). Loving actions within our community builds up that community, which can be seen as the faith practice of fellowship. So, we are created to fellowship.

Loving Together

An important way to combine service and fellowship is to do acts of service together. Not only can this make the service work more effective, but working side-by-side is an act of fellowship, building up relationships within that part of your faith community. And, with the support of others, you are more likely to follow through and less likely to burn out.

“We should build up fellowship” is not exactly surprising news to you. But it’s important to be intentional about this, and particularly to build relationships between member of different generations. If you truly want your congregation to be a single community, then you (plural) need to engage in formal or informal intergenerational fellowship. Otherwise, you will have multiple communities (cliques) gathering under a single roof.

May God help you love one another!

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Order Faith Formation Resources

Our 2024-2025 resources are available to order! Narrative Lectionary, Revised Common Lectionary, Classic Sunday School, and more.

Are you looking for resources for the summer: VBS, family/intergenerational events, or Sunday school? Check out our Learning Together series, a set of five-lesson units on a variety of topics. You can read outside reviews on both our newest Created to Care and Do Justice units! Our faith formation resources are easy-to-use, theologically sound, and inclusive.

Introducing our newest Learning Together unit: Created to Care! Wonder at God’s creation and learn about what we can do to protect and heal it in these five lessons, intended for children and intergenerational groups, family or churchwide events, or Vacation Bible School. This curriculum is published in collaboration with BibleWorm, a weekly Narrative Lectionary podcast, to accompany their summer series on Creation Care.

At Spirit & Truth Publishing, we might just have exactly what you are looking for:

• Resources for the Narrative Lectionary (2024-2025): Products for all ages.
• Classic Sunday School Curriculum: Key Bible stories for PK-2nd and 3rd-6th, also great for your Christian elementary school!
• Learning Together: Five-lesson, topical units for VBS, Sunday school, children, and intergenerational classes.
• Cross+Generational Confirmation
• Resource for the Revised Common Lectionary (2024-2025): Intergenerational classroom, mini lessons for children.
• Worship and Liturgy Education

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