Companions to Bring Us to Jesus

We had our first Welcome Dinner Saturday, Aug. 20, on the UT campus! The event was buzzing with our returning students and new students who dropped in to grab a bite and had fellowship with us. After the meal, we all gathered together and had some dynamite singing and worship. It felt like we hit a spiritual gusher and God was flowing!

The short message that followed was about having “Companions to Bring Us to Jesus.” The Bible, especially the New Testament exhorts believers to have other Christians as companions so that they can help each other in the Christian life and pursuit. The word “companion” comes from two Latin words put together: com (“with”) + panis (“bread”). Basically, this word means people whom you would eat bread with, that is “friends.” It is interesting to note here that the Lord often ate bread with His disciples, called them friends in John 15:14-15, and also instituted the Lord’s Table with the cup and the bread before His death and resurrection; and commanded that it be kept until His return, whereupon He shall eat bread with His believers again!

What does this all mean? It means we should have a few, perhaps four or five, Christian companions whom we feel close to and are related with. Christians brothers or sisters that we usually would hang out and have a meal together. Such companions are vital to our personal walk with Jesus because, as Mark 2:1-12 points out, there are times when we become “paralyzed” by our sinful condition and thus are unable to take care of our personal Christian walk and move before God. At such times, we need “four” companions (verse 3) to “carry” us to Jesus and even place us in “front of Jesus” (Luke 5:19). When this occurs, the Lord Jesus will take notice. He will not see our detracting sinful condition, but rather He will see the faith of our companions, and upon “seeing their faith” (verse 5), He will heal us from our sinful condition and restore our walk and move before God.

Many of us have had such experiences. Perhaps even right now, some may be paralyzed by sin. Some may have tried this and that solution, only to discover that we are paralyzed by our sinful condition and we simply CANNOT move. We need our Christian companions’ faith to carry us to the glorified Son of Man so that He can heal us by forgiving us our sins (verse 5).

This is the normal Christian experience! God does not intend for us to live as individual Christians. His divine will and purpose is to have a BODY of Christ. No matter how good or successful our individual, spiritual pursuit is, as long as we remain individuals and not built up as His Body, we come short of God’s perfect will. Perhaps mostly for this reason, God allows and even arranges certain things in our lives that we fail at. This is not only so that we would be saved from our sinful condition, but all the more that we would be delivered from an isolated, individual Christian experience and be brought to the reality of the Body of Christ. Many Christians throughout history have uttered such longings and sentiments. Joseph Swain, Charles Wesley, and John Fawcett to name a few.

Why would we not seek to experience this today? This is not only God’s will, but eventually it is our destiny! We are not destined to have our own “island” for eternity, rather we shall all be together with God. By having the “together” Christian experience with our companions along with our personal walk, perhaps we can hasten His return, and be gathered with Him whom we love in that joyful day! Lord Jesus, bless us and many others with such companions.