Friend #1: I am struggling.
Friend #2: What’s going on, bro?
Friend #1: I have fallen away from God. I don’t attend church services any more. I do not read my Bible, nor do I pray like I used to.
Friend #2: Let’s retrace your steps. When was the last time you were completely in the zone with God?
Friend #1: Ummm, I really do not remember.
Friend #2: How can I walk alongside you?
Friend #1: I don’t know man. I’ll just have to figure it out by myself. I know God is all that I need.
Friend #2: If you were able to figure it out by yourself, wouldn’t you have done it already?

It goes without saying that we live in a highly individualistic culture. The predominant message America promotes is that life is about “me, myself, and I” or it promotes a “dog-eat-dog” philosophy that one must embrace in order to achieve success. This individualistic, self-centered perspective is a consciousness that has been ingrained in us. Some would even argue that we were born with a self-centered consciousness. Even when people, like Friend #1, seek either to be restored back to God or to dive deeper into their relationships with God, there is this sense where they consciously—or perhaps subconsciously—believe that they can accomplish their spiritual goals all by themselves.

The Gospel, being a message that calls us to live counter-culturally, continues to create awareness and a consciousness that move us from self-centeredness to selflessness. The Gospel expresses an awareness of our self-centered consciousness, yet calls us to a place of community, radical vulnerability, and collective transformation.

Community

The creation story found in Genesis 1 and 2 states that the communal God, being the creator of the world, formed Adam and the woman (Genesis 1:26). Adam and the woman were created in the profile and image of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Godhead collectively worked on the formulations of Adam and the woman. Interestingly, in Genesis 2, when Adam was made, there was something still missing. Adam didn’t fully reflect the Godhead because Adam was found alone. When God saw Adam, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen 2:18). In order for Adam to fully embody the image of the Godhead, he needed to experience life in community.

“But I don’t need anyone but God in my life. God is all I need,” said Friend #1. If that statement were true, then why would God look at Adam and say that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone? Adam had a place to live, food to eat, a job, and most importantly, he had a relationship with God. Adam was sinless, perfect, and in a harmonious relationship with God. Adam was the perfect illustration to the statement, “God is all I need.” Yet, for some reason, God didn’t and doesn’t agree with the statement and viewpoint of Friend #1. Like Adam, in order for people to fully embrace the image of God, they must find themselves in community, sharing life together, intentionally seeking to work the mission of God like Adam and the woman (who would later be called Eve) in Gen 1 and 2.

Conclusion

If God presents himself to be one who lives, moves, and works in community, what makes us think that we as individuals don’t need any relationships with other people? Yes, we ultimately need God, but one of the ways we can fully resemble the communal nature of God is to live, move, and work in community. Whether we like it or not, people need people in order to look like God.