Hindrances to Christian Fellowship (Part 1)
Organizing Pastor at Good Shepherd
Rev. Mark Wheat
In Acts, Luke tells us after Peter preached his great message on the Day of Pentecost, that the people were devoting themselves to the apostles’ doctrine, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Where the apostles’ doctrine is heard and heeded great fellowship will be found. Luke tells us that this fellowship is visibly seen as people talk about the Word of God, as people come together for meals, come together for prayer, share with one another, etc.
But what are some of the hindrances to our Christian Fellowship?
I would like to discuss some hindrances to Christian Fellowship.
One hindrance to Christian Fellowship can be our Schedules. I say, Can be our Schedules, because maybe you have already realized this and you have it under control! But even for us who have our schedules under control, we must constantly be on the guard about how full our schedules get so that Christian fellowship happens! Are our schedules so full that Christian fellowship is next to impossible for it to happen? Even as Christians we must wrap our minds around the fact that the world is pulling on us to fill our schedules, to do too much, to have each child on a team; or to take on another shift, to make more money, to do and to do, and to be so busy. It is so easy to get caught up in doing too much…scheduling too much!
As a personal trainer, working in a gym, in people’s homes and on the football field, I watched as parents, once school was out, how they became chauffeurs who did not do much more than move each child around from one event to another, one practice or lesson to the other until it was dark-thirty! Case in point: every Wednesday at 4:00pm eight 5th graders used to show up at the elementary school near the Gym where I trained. They were all dropped off, then I would run them for 1 hour. Then they were all picked up, taken to Dallas for Club soccer, a 90-minute drive, then they worked out at Club soccer for 90 minutes, then they were brought back home, 90-minute drive, then it was 10:00 pm, time to do homework! That is just too much!
The pull of the world is to do it all! We used to hear a woman singing on a commercial, “I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pain,” meaning that a woman can work, and be a mother, and never get tired, she can do it all. But, in reality, men, women, and children, cannot do it all without giving up something. What is given up? Relationships! Fellowship! Intimacy! Husband and wife, father and son, father and daughter, mother and son, mother and daughter, relationships are done away with for the reason that we do not want to be left behind when it comes to music, sport, drama, academics, etc. Now, I like music, sport, drama, academics, etc.
I am all about them. But, we all need wisdom to find the balance, so that we do not do too much, so that we do not schedule too much, because when we do, not only family relationships are squeezed out, choked out, but also, there is definitely no time for Christian fellowship! I do not think that there was ever a greater need in this life, than for us to revisit the Fourth Commandment. Why? Because, if you get this commandment down, by the grace of God, you will learn to schedule your week, you will learn what can be done, and what cannot be done in a week, so that you are finished with work, and you can worship on the Lord’s Day with delight.
In the Parable of the Sower Jesus speaks of seed sown on the thorny soil, and the idea here is that there was an initial interest in the Gospel Seed, but that interest was choked out by the worries of this world, by worrying that I, my child, will not get to have everything, will not get to do all that we want to do. But what is of absolute importance?
We must choose! We must choose what is of the utmost importance. And the most important thing that we can do is educate ourselves and our children in the truth of God’s Word and the Christianity that it teaches. J. G. Machen wrote in 1925, the most important thing of all –there must be a renewal of Christian Education…it is the chief business of the hour for every earnest Christian man. Christianity cannot subsist unless men know what Christianity is!!!
How can you and I know what Christianity is, unless we schedule time to read the word privately, read and teach that word to our family, and hear that word read and preached on Sundays? Just as you schedule time for appointments, lessons, games, work, you and I should schedule our time so that we are able to fellowship with God and the people of God, especially on Sundays.
We have to choose. The gospel and a balance of school, the gospel balanced with sport or sports, the gospel over too many appointments, the gospel over too many overtime shifts, the worship of God through our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit, unless I am providentially hindered. We must choose! Giving ourselves to the Fourth Commandment so that our schedules are transformed by it, from work, work, work and doing too much, to work and to worship in a proper balance. We have to choose! Jesus said, Seek first his kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. The Apostle Paul said, This one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus said to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” What is that good part which shall never be taken away from Mary? Sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to His words.
This is a good warning to us as Christians that we must be careful with our schedules so that Christian fellowship is possible and not impossible.