There are sadly many uneasy situations in church gatherings. One that I have often seen is when people are asked to share a testimony of what God has done in their lives or of what God has been teaching them lately. Then there is an eerie silence as people are looking down at their feet to avoid this uncomfortable situation. To be sure, I have done this myself. I am also sure many pastors get frustrated at the lack of response from their people. I think this sample scenario is actually indicative of a much more serious problem.
The problem is the lack of genuine community in the local church. There is scarcely the interconnectedness that should pervade the local church. There is not the necessary investment in each other lives. This is clearly not what the new covenant community should look like. The New Testament picture of the local church is one where all believers encourage and exhort one another with much frequency.
Thus, when believers, for example, are asked to share in front of a group of fellow believers, there is immense timidity to do so. Why? Because, they are accustomed not to do so. In fact, there are none or very few avenues within the local church to develop relationships with fellow believers that are eternally helpful to one another. As a result, people are not likely to share personal information in front of others whom they scarcely know, and thus, trust to care about and safeguard the content of their testimony.
Church leaders cannot expect “testimony” times to be robust if they do not promote and model real community within the local church. No doubt, this is extremely difficult. The people will often demonstrate tangible resistance. However, pastors and other leaders must relentlessly press on to establish an atmosphere in the local church where people truly, truly love one another and thus glorify God in a very radical way.
I often pray for initiative and boldness in proclaiming the gospel to unbelievers. Even more so, I am beginning to pray more for initiative and boldness in creating and sustaining relationships with other believers that God clearly demands of us for our good, the good of others, and for His glory.
