The formal church with its platform ministry and spectator congregation will not begin to suffice for the requirements of the present and of the future.

There is a need today for the saints to come together in fellowship, to promote unity among themselves. Some, feeling this need, have established Christian communities. In the passage quoted above (previous essay) we note that the believers broke bread "from house to house." They were concerned about the material (and no doubt spiritual) needs of one another. Although they had things in common there still appeared to be some private ownership of houses.

We must draw closer to one another, and it is up to the church leaders to insure that this happens, as the Spirit enables. The larger congregations must be divided into smaller fellowships if the intense interaction of the believers, their mutual encouragement and their spiritual and physical protection, are to take place. By physical protection we mean mutual material aid during the coming days of judgment.

A church of thousands of people who come together to view a performance on a platform no longer is suitable for the building of the Body of Christ.

There are problems associated with the drawing together of the believers. We notice in the Scripture the murmuring about the neglect of some of the widows, and the selfishness of the Christians who acted as gluttons in the love feasts while others had nothing to eat. Paul describes this selfishness in the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians and rebukes the believers for not discerning that each person is a member of the one Body of Christ and is not to be neglected.

Let us think about two problems that arise today concerning our attempts to grow in unity with the Lord Jesus and the Father and with one another.

The problem of human unity.

The problem of reveling.

The Problem of Human Unity

People see the need for unity among themselves. Instead of realizing it is a unity in Jesus in the Father they attempt to bring about unity from human to human.

God has given each of us a sense of privacy. We are closed personalities.

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. (Song of Solomon 4:12)

God does not want the walls taken down, our "garden" invaded, until His time. People, sometimes in an effort to help us, sometimes in an effort to manipulate us, may encourage us to let down the barriers to our inner self.

One technique is confession. "Tell us everything—the more personal the better."

Little by little we divulge everything we are thinking, our opinions, our motivations, our secret attitudes toward people.

It is scriptural and helpful to confess our sins one to another and to pray one for another that we may be healed. In so doing we do not give up our inner privacy. We get help in judging and removing the sin dwelling in our flesh, and we obtain counsel from the elders—from people we know and trust; or on occasion from a psychiatrist or other professional.

We do not permit others to enter the garden of our life nor do we ever permit anyone to hypnotize us.

To be continued.