There are several versions of a meme going around saying how great it is to find God alone in the woods or fishing, and even how preferable it is to hanging out in a stuffy, religious church. People also are fond of saying “Only God can judge me” as if they aren’t accountable to their fellow human. Neither of these things is Biblical. What is Biblical in regard to others is: we need people, people need us and God is present through our connection with others.
There are times that leaders in the Bible retreated into nature, but they never stayed there. Moses came down from the mountain. Jesus came back from the wilderness. Their task was to build the kingdom of heaven, not find individual fulfillment here on earth.
According to Genesis 2:18 we need others. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’” Jesus himself had the 12 disciples, the women and at times crowds. Paul was always working with someone, Barnabas, Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila.
People on their own get weird. In 1 Kings, Elijah was all alone in the desert thinking he was the only one faithful to God and wishing he was dead. God send him angels to care for him, but also reminded him that he was not alone. 7000 other people were also faithful, he just had become disconnected. After that, Elijah got a friend Elisha to work with him.
Christian leadership not a one-man show. In Exodus 14, Moses’s father-in-law asked him why he sat alone in judgement, and encouraged him to delegate some of the work to others. We will burn out if we take on everything ourselves. Jesus had 12 disciples and some women who traveled and ministered to him and with him.
Paul describes the church as a body with parts. A hand all by itself is not going to survive, and the body needs its hands. We can’t all be hands, or eyes. We need different kinds of people and they need us. Paul and Peter had their disagreements, but kept each other accountable as well. Proverbs 27 says that “Iron sharpens iron.” The meaning is that we need to polish together in order to be the most effective.
I guess Christian charity has fallen out of favor with some, but we are still called to help the poor, the needy, the foreigner, the widows and orphans and incarcerated. Jesus identifies with these populations specifically in Matthew 25 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” In the parable of the rich man, he was was totally judged on how he treated the poor man. Make no mistake, we will be held accountable. In Luke, Jesus says, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”
Not only are we accountable for others, but to them as well. While we acknowledge that God is the perfect judge, we don’t get a free pass with our behavior to others. Jesus says that before you give an offering to God, to reconcile with your brother first. We cannot unlink our relationship with God and others. Even the Lords prayer says, “forgive us our debts as we for give our debtors.” If you want to be forgiven you have to forgive. Paul said to the Romans, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Finally, if we want to connect with God, we have to include others. In Matthew, Jesus promises, “for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Christianity is not an individual sport.