Tripod

I will get back to my series about what I believe.  Soon.  I promise.

Overwhelmedness shut me down temporarily.

Today I'm going to write a short, simple post to try to get back into the swing.  This sometimes works.

Our pastor has been teaching us that there is a tripod of necessities for the growing Christian.  He says these three necessetiies are:

(A)  The Savior
(B)  The Scriptures
(C)  The Saints

In other words, we need God, specifically His revelation of Himself through Jesus Christ.  We need to know Him and love Him, to pray to Him and to seek Him.

We need God's word, the Bible.  We need to read it, learn it and practice it.

We need the body of Christ, the church, the fellowship of believers. We need to meet together, to love each other and be loved.  We need to encourage each other and hold each other accountable.

Our pastor said, though, the other day, "I don't think these things are exactly equal... not exactly a tripod that holds equal weight in each direction."

I would agree.  I've been thinking about it, and I think these spiritual necessities correspond to some physical necessities that we have.  Our spiritual needs for the Savior, the scriptures and the saints correspond to our physical needs for air, water and food.

Our need for the Savior, for Jesus, is like the need for air.  If you can't breathe, you die quite quickly.  Without Jesus, we have no hope of salvation.  No hope.  Jesus is everything.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14:6, NIV)

Our need for the scriptures is like our need for water.  We can go a little while without them, but not long.  They are crucial for our spiritual survival, just as water is crucial for physical survival.

I will never forget your precepts,
    for by them you have preserved my life.
(Psalm 119:93, NIV) 

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23, NIV)

...and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17, NIV)

And lastly, our need for the saints, for Christian fellowship, is like our need for food.  If we have air to breathe and water to drink, we can survive for quite a few days, even weeks.  So it is with Christian fellowship.  In a way, we can get along without it, as long as we have Jesus in our hearts and the Bible in our hands.  But we will not be healthy.  We will not thrive.  We will not be strong.  We will not grow.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.  (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV)

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11, NIV)

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25, NIV) 

If you are a Christian, you know Jesus; you are spiritually alive.  You are (metaphorically) breathing.  

Don't neglect the scriptures (metaphorically drinking).


And don't neglect the fellowship of the saints.  Like a (metaphorically) good Jewish mama, I say, "Eat!"