We need fellowship. This is not an optional activity. Our God, the God of the universe, the one who created us to be in his image, lives in fellowship. It is his nature. And it is our nature as well.
Like a puzzle, each of us plays the role of a single piece, but not the full picture. Like a quilt, each of us is one of the squares but not the full design. Like a body, we all are each a part, but not the whole. Like a building, we each make up one element but not the whole thing. We each represent a section of the image of God but when any of us are missing, we all suffer for it. We miss out on that aspect of who God is. We are weaker when part of our building/body is missing or isn’t doing their job. We are incomplete.
When we have fellowship, our pieces fit together. You have the abilities that I am lacking in. I might have the knowledge you need. Someone else has a talent that we all need for the work we are doing. When one of us is having a bad day, the others lift us up. We all encourage one another. We are stronger when we work together.
Even more than the great individual benefits of having a spiritual community, when we all play our part we help represent the full picture of God. When people only see one of us representing him, they only get a glimpse. When they see part of the picture, but some of the pieces are missing, they see our broken nature. But when we can be united and present and all play the parts God has assigned to us, we present a full puzzle, a beautifully designed quilt, a fully functioning body, or an amazingly complex architecture. We learn who God is as we grow together in our spiritual community and we learn who we are meant to be. As a healthy community, we show the world the beautiful face of God.
