Life is about Relationships
Anonymity is antithetical to Christianity. Put another way: it is the very essence of discipleship to be known and know others. The Bible describes the Church as both a family (with fathers, and brothers and sisters; 1 Cor. 4:14-15, 1 Tim. 3:15), and as a body (with every organ dependent on one another; 1 Cor. 12:12-20). These are both intimate metaphors. We are to be close: like family. We are to be connected: like the parts of a body to the whole. Since the Resurrection of Jesus, Christians have been gathering for worship and fellowship weekly, if not daily. The earliest Christians practiced this through having “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers,” and lived this out not only at corporate worship, but “day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.” (Acts 2:42, 47) The New Testament does not give us a single example of a Christian living in isolation. There is no such thing as a “lone wolf Christian,” there never was and never will be. Though called by many names, Christians of every age have met in small groups for Bible study, prayer, fellowship and service. Thus we see in the Bible, and throughout Church history, that one cannot be a Christian only a single day out of the week. At Good Shepherd, we do not claim to be wiser than all the disciples before us, and happily follow their example.

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