Tuesday, February 17th

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February 17: Seeking the Lord Together

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

—Acts 13:2

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor and theologian in Germany in the 1940s, is perhaps best known for the stance he took against the Nazi regime during World War II. His courage in standing up for truth and righteousness in the face of great evil landed him in a Nazi concentration camp and ultimately resulted in his death.

But some of his most profound contributions can be found in his writings on Christian community. 

He outlined his vision for unity in the church in his classic book Life Together. In it, he makes it clear that the church isn’t just an association of people with a common purpose; rather, the church’s sole focus should be Christ. He said, “Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man. . . . Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother.”

In other words, it’s not enough to wish for peace on earth by trying to find common ground or seeing the best in others. If we want to be truly united, we need to be united in Christ.

Paul and Barnabas had a significant, not to mention dangerous, task before them. They were the church’s very first missionaries, sent to spread the gospel into the world. And if that weren’t a daunting enough responsibility, they also knew that doing so would put their lives in great physical danger. Some of their own people, the Jewish leaders, were threatened by the message of Christ and wouldn’t hesitate to resort to violence and even murder to silence them.

God knew what these men would face in their attempt to advance the gospel beyond the borders of Jerusalem. But he didn’t make their assignment easier; he didn’t remove the obstacles before them. Instead, he did something rather surprising: he assigned them to the buddy system.

This seems to be a pattern throughout Scripture: when God has a significant calling for someone, he tends to send the person out with a partner. God knows we need to be united with our brothers and sisters to accomplish the big plans he has for us. He doesn’t intend for us to go it alone.

Here are a few examples from the Bible:

• When God made his perfect world, there was only one thing he said was not good: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” So he decided to make a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18).
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  When God called Moses to confront Pharaoh, he sent Moses’ brother, Aaron, along for support (Exodus 7:1-2).
• 
  When David stood up to King Saul, who was out to kill him, God provided a best friend for David (1 Samuel 20:17).
• 
  When Jesus sent out the disciples, he didn’t ask them to go alone. Instead, he sent them out two by two (Luke 10:1).

And when Paul and Barnabas went on the first missionary journey, God sent them out together so they could support each other and use their gifts to complement each other. On top of that, they had the support of the entire church community, who commissioned them and prayed for them. The journey wasn’t just Paul and Barnabas’s journey; they went on behalf of the entire church.

Paul and Barnabas knew the secret of unity that Bonhoeffer knew: Christ is the only way to unity: “Through him alone do we have access to one another, joy in one another, and fellowship with one another.”

Are you feeling alone in your journey of faith right now? Take a moment to ask God to show you someone you can walk with to fulfill the calling God has given you.

—Stephanie Rische