A Year in Review of Living in Wickenburg
My wife and I , and our daughter moved to Wickenburg a year ago. I have had the honor of serving as pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Wickenburg for a year, and Lord willing, many more.
We moved from a rural Kentucky town, very similar to Wickenburg. We have met so many wonderful folks both inside the church and outside the church, so I want to to say, thank you Wickenburg, for making this feel at home.
One of the things I have grown to love about Wickenburg is the sense of community. In fact, this is what reminds me of the town I left. It is inevitable when I go to the grocery store to buy milk and eggs, or go grab a meal at spurs, or go to the ballfields, I see someone I know, and I am sure that’s true of you. I enjoy seeing familiar faces, and getting to chat with someone briefly on a Tuesday evening even though I may have seen them on Sunday. I am sure you enjoy those moments too. The fact is, within all of us, there is an innate longing for community.
Very early in Genesis after God created the first man Adam, in Genesis 2:18 we read, “it is not good for man to be alone.” Think about this. In Genesis 1, there is a constant refrain after each day he created, “and God saw that it was good.” But now, he has created something that is not good, the sense of being alone. God himself exists in relational community within the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so being created in His image, among other things, is being created for relational community. It is not good to be alone. Of course, God created Eve, and Adam was no longer alone, and this relationship God says was “very good!”
This is why God did not create Christians to be alone, but gave us a community. In Ephesians 2, we see that Jesus unites Jews and Gentiles into one body, the church, and he does so by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13), and through the cross (Eph. 2:16). In fact, most of the new testament is written to gatherings of believers called the church. So many passages of Scripture outline how we are to live with “one another.” We see in the Bible that we are to “love one another (John 13:34-35, Jn. 15:12, 17, Romans 12:10, 13:8, 1 Thess. 3:12, 4:9-10, 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8, 1 John 3:11, 23, 4:7, 11-12, 2 John 1:5), welcome one another (Romans 15:7), show hospitality to one another (1Peter 4:9), live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16), be kind to one another and forgive one another (Eph. 4:32), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), comfort one another (1 Corinthians 12:25), and many more..
By now, you get the idea. We weren’t created to be alone. It isn’t good. We were created to live in relational community with one another, and the place God has designed for that to take place is His church. This is why the writer of Hebrews commands us, “not to forsake our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
We need to assemble together, so that we may encourage one another, and we need to do that even more as the day of Christ’s return draws near, not less.
Here is a question I have: If it is not good for man to be alone, If we were created for relational community, Why was it the habit of some to neglect the assembling together in the church? I’m not sure if we can answer that for the first century but I have a few ideas of why we do it.
Relationships are messy: We know we are called to love one another, but some people are difficult to love. It’s much easier to just stay home. But we weren’t called to do what is easier, but to obey Scripture.
Church hurt: You may have had a bad experience at a church. It happens. Churches are filled with people, and people are sinners. Sometimes people say hurtful things, even if they don’t intend to do so. And because of one bad church experience after another, you give up. But the fact is, there are beautiful expressions of relational community inside local churches, and I would encourage you to not give up. Come visit us! Maybe FSBCW isn’t a good fit for you, and if not, I will help you find one that is.
Technological access: Our day an age is much more advanced than it was in the 1st century. Now you can listen to sermons on a podcast, you can listen to worship music on your phone, so you can get preaching and worship wherever you are right? Sure, but that’s not what church is all about. You don’t get relationships by yourself on the sofa or in the boat. It is not good for you to be alone. You need to be a community where you can live out the one another’s in a group of believers. Also, it's very easy to drift away into sin and doctrinal error if we are not living in community with other believers. You and I need the accountability and the ministry of the “one another” community of the church in our lives. It is not good for us to be alone.
Consumeristic mindset: In our culture, we have been accustomed to having a consumeristic mindset about everything. As the Burger King commercial says, we want it our way. We want a customized church experience that checks all our boxes. We want the preaching to be entertaining and engaging, but not too long, We want upbeat and inspiring music, but not too loud, we want the right programs, good tasting coffee, and stellar events. When a church doesn’t meet one of our boxes, it's on to the next one. But we weren’t created to have it our way, we were created to glorify God. Maybe the preaching is too long at your church, or the music is too loud, or there isn’t enough fellowship events…that’s ok. Commit to being there anyway. Love the people. Bear one another’s burdens, show hospitality to one another. When you begin to give and receive in these one another relationships, the sermon won’t seem as long, the loud music doesn’t bother you as much, and not having this or that program doesn’t seem to matter anymore, because you are investing in others, and they are investing in you.
We have loved living in Wickenburg. I love the community we have experienced. It is what we were created for. If you don’t have that kind of community, if you are alone and you recognize it is not good, come and join us at First Southern Baptist Wickenburg, and let us welcome you love you, and bear your burdens, as God has welcomed us in Christ, as Christ has loved us, and as He has bore our burden on the cross!
