Christian Community - The role of Scripture

Late this week, I posed the question: If you were stranded on a desert island with no hope for rescue and you could choose one book and one book only, what book would you want on the island? Would you take:

• Les Miserables (Lay Mee-say-hrabl), a lengthy and superb adventure about overcoming oppression?
• Robinson Crusoe, the fictional account of man stranded on an uninhabited island, hoping to glean some tips or hope for the future?
• The Boy Scout Handbook, which includes lots of tips on First Aid, camping and knot tying? 
• The SAS Survival Handbook For Any Climate In Any Situation? 
• The Holy Bible?

Would your faith and spiritual journey be so intact that Scripture is all you would need when faced with isolation, starvation, lack of housing, lack of medical care, lack of food, and lack of resources? Would Scripture be enough?

Why is this so important to our discussions of Christian Community?

A Christian Community is defined as “followers of Jesus” who are engaged in life together. Just like a neighborhood, neighbors know one another well. Neighbors care for one another. Neighbors look out for one another. Neighbors warn and caution one another? Neighbors both encourage and correct one another. Neighbors contribute to the whole of life together.

But, what separates secular community, which can be found in neighborhoods, workplaces, and recreation, is that every single member of the Christian Community is and must be a confessing follower of Jesus Christ. Focus on that word "confessing" follower of Jesus. In Romans 10:9, Paul reminds us "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Confession. There is no such thing as a private or secret Christian. There is no hiding from it. There is no saying, "It's between me and the Lord." People must know that you follow Jesus.

Confessing followers of Jesus (Christians), through the Holy Spirit, become a part of the universal Christian Community. That's why I could feel very at home last week 3,000 miles from Lexington with a Lutheran congregation near Sacramento, CA. The spirit binds us regardless of silly signs out front. But, those signs also bind us in local churches, which are also Christian Communities. And, then Sunday School classes and small groups within churches become even more intimate Christian Communities. And, let me tell you, it's those Christian Communities like our Sunday School class that I love most of all. I deeply love them.

But, understand. No one can come to any Christian Community except by way of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. And, the only way - the only true and trustworthy way - we can understand God, Jesus and faith is through Holy Scripture. Southern Baptists believe so deeply in Scripture as the voice of God that in a list of what Southern Baptists believe, Scripture sits in the No. 1 position. Here's what Southern Baptists believe about Scripture:

"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation." Click to read what Southern Baptists believe.

Within the Christian Community, Scripture - The Holy Bible - becomes our playbook, our authoritative guide, and our compass for daily living. Believers join Christian Communities and believers anchor their lives in Scripture.

Unbelievers will turn to pulpit personalities, the emotion of worship services, the feel-good of service projects and say things like, "My loyalty and involvement here makes me a good Christian - a good person."

No! Only a lonely and personal walk with God through a lonely and personal faith in Jesus identifies a person as a follower of Jesus, and gives that person entrance into the Christian Community. And, then, only through that lonely and personal faith can a follower of Jesus fully embrace the worship, fellowship, the missional service, the encouragement and the correction of the Christian Community.

What do we call the unsaved person who sits in a worship service? We call that person a spectator. That's the best we can call them. What do we call the saved person who sits in a worship service? We call that person a member of the Christian Community. The unsaved person does not own a Bible, or owns one only as a living room centerpiece. For the believer, there is no book that trumps Holy Scripture - not for a deserted island, not for the advice and counsel of a single day.

And, I would argue that the person who does not turn to the Bible for counsel and advice, who does not touch the Bible except to dust the cover, and who does not even own a Bible, well, that person can't possibly call himself or herself a follower of Jesus. I would approach that person with the love and prayer and encouragement that I would approach any lost and unsaved person; not condemning them, not judging them, but expectantly praying and begging God for the opportunity to share my faith with them.

To follow Jesus, and not be led astray by false prophets and warped churches, a believer must personally be engaged with and led by Scripture . . . every single day.

How in the world could I be an employee if I didn't own, read and use an employee handbook? How could I be a quarterback if I didn't own and use a playbook? How in the world could I be a Boy Scout if I didn't own a Boy Scout handbook? How in the world could I be a mechanic if I didn't own and use a manual that helped me understand how to fix cars?

How in the world, then, can I call myself a follower of Jesus and ignore Holy Scripture that says of itself in Revelation 22:18: “ I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And, if anyone removes any of the words of this prophetic book, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.”

Do you know of any other book, any other guide to Christian living, anything on Amazon.com that takes itself so seriously as to say, “If you screw around with this book, you will be removed from the tree of life?" If those words don’t convict you and me of the importance of Holy Scripture to the life of a true believer, I don’t know what else to say to you.

When your children or family or friends come to you for advice, do you say “well, experience tells me” or “here’s what I think” or “here’s what I read in a John Piper or John Maxwell book” or do you say, “Let’s explore what Scripture says about that.” This alone convicts me of the role of Holy Scripture in my life, my dedication to following Jesus, and my place in Christian Community. Holy Scripture is the playbook for the Christian and the Christian Community to which he or she belongs. Nothing else.

Closing thoughts:

• If you need a Bible or a study guide, my advice is to visit a LifeWay Christian Bookstore. I can't speak for other Christian bookstores, but I know the employees of LifeWay are followers of Jesus. Just tell them, "I need a Study Bible that I can easily understand, and that has a built-in commentary that can help me understand Scripture's meaning for my life."
• Read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Reads Acts and Roman. Chase the cross-references and read the commentaries.
• Pray the Psalms. You don't know how to pray? Read the psalmist's prayers aloud to God. It counts. He loves it.
• If you have questions, my recommendation is to visit www.got questions.org. There are hundreds of thousands of everyday questions with answers that are full of Bible references.

As we move forward in Christian Community, Holy Scripture will be our playbook. And, those who cry out “Lord, Lord” will anchor their lives in it, and let it truly be, as Psalm 119:105 states, “a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”