I’ve been studying a bit about what Lord Jesus didn’t do. It’s a fascinating subject! During His time before Herod, Jesus wouldn’t respond to his insincere questioning. (Luke 23:8-11)

Why not? Lord Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6) Discernment is necessary.

Yesterday I was visiting a doctor for a checkup, a Christian man, he told me that he was reading a book about the things Jesus didn’t do. That’s confirmation from God.

Lord Jesus also did not live alone. He lived in a community of believers in Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. (Matthew 4:13) Most of His disciples were called to follow Him from that area. He healed people there. In a sense it was His headquarters.

When The Lord traveled, walking, from village to village, His followers went with Him, both men and women. The place, Capernaum, was not the community, but the people, the fledgling beginning of the Church, was the community. (Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 10:1; Matthew 27:55-56)

After Christ ascended, His people, the Church continued living in community in Jerusalem while around them was persecution. (Acts 1:15) As the Church grew and spread, more and more parts of the Church body were established.

Paul planted some of these communities—Rome, Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica….while around them was persecution.

Lord Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9) A sheep pen is an enclosure or a cave with only one entrance. The sheep go in an out of this entrance to feed. But at night, the shepherd himself is the door; he lays down across the entrance so that no sheep wander off and no wolves get in.

Believers are the sheep, kept together in a community. The door to the community is Lord Jesus. Believers go in and out, which means freely about their daily activities. (Jeremiah 37:4; Psalm 121:8) There is protection in a community of believers. It is a way of Jesus.

In 1984, my college class took a weekend trip to Chicago. There we visited Jesus People USA. It is a vibrant community of believers living together in a 10-story building in Uptown Chicago with the purpose of serving the poor. Within their ranks are young people, senior citizens, married couples and children. Begun in 1972, with a group of hippies living together in a basement, today they number about 200 souls. Sounds radical doesn’t it? But it has worked for nearly 50 years.

The heritage of Christians has been community, for support, safety, help in need, care, edification, etc.. It is how the believers of the Holy Land have survived and remained for 2,000 years. It is the legacy of the Mayflower Pilgrims, the Puritans, Mennonites and all other Christian communities that have come to America to worship in freedom leaving behind the persecution of the Old World.

The Amish also came to the United States for freedom of religion; theirs is a history of martyrdom, extreme persecution. Though they primarily live in rural areas, they keep together as a church, where there is safety to practice their own ways, help when life’s storms come, and they take care of their own seniors and people who are disabled. Together they celebrate marriages and births and mourn with those in mourning. No one is left to bear his burden alone.

The first large group of Amish arrived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1730. They have been growing strong for 290 years.

The modern church has deviated from this way of Jesus. Community, where people care. Where safety resides. Where there is freedom in everyday life.

Lord Jesus never lived alone. Neither are we to be monks, isolated, living alone, watching tv.

If you are alone, in isolation, reach out to a church community where you live. Go there. Jesus People USA welcomes visitors and those who would live with them. Even the Amish welcome outsiders to come in to their fellowship if they will abide by their ordinances.

As God has led His Church in the past, so He is leading her now. There is no safety without The Lord.

LOOK UP!

FORGIVENESS, A WAY OF GOD