Evangelion

                                                 

I talk a lot about the gospel in this blog and i realized that i havnt yet laid it out. I am sorry and this is my weak attempt.

God creates everything in perfect harmony and synchronicity with him. Everything is good and right. There is no brokenness, no darkness, no death. Everything is in perfect rhythm with its surroundings and its creator. Everything rightly glorifies its creator as he is the best best, the greatest greatness, the most loving love, the most powerful power, the most pure good. It all perfectly works for his well deserved and perfect glory and in this working perfection exists. He creates very specific image bearers, thinkers and reflectors of him. People are created to love and be in personal relationship with their creator. He calls them very good. They live in a beautifully designed area . They exist in beautiful relationship with the creator of all of it. They are created to be one with one another- man and woman, together, perfectly mirroring their creator. One day a deceiver, one who had already rebelled against his creator, lied to them, telling them to disobey God in hopes of becoming like him. This would be the first act in Gods physical creation that was unjust, not pouring out to him. It would be the first time where identity was found outside of something’s creator and in itself. This is evil. To worship and glorify something that is not the Lord and creator of all things. The people disobeyed God and became horribly self aware and introspective. They found that they were naked and hid themselves in shame. There God-the loving creator who had blessed them and created them for love and glory in their creator- came to meet them asking where they were in disappointment. He called them to himself. He found that they had tried to cover their shame themselves with fig leaves.  He explained how this rebellion had invited a curse. It separated them from him. It brought in strife and pain- Sin. This ushered in all brokenness and corrupted all the rhythm in which God had created the world. But the loving creator said that he would send a saviour through the woman’s seed which would destroy the work that the deceiver had started. He testified to a redeemer that would return the people to the beauty that they had been created in. Then many evil and desperate years and decades and centuries and millennia passed. Through it all God was faithful to continue proclaiming this redeemer, this messiah that would deliver the people back to their God. He did this through a people called the Jews, a race started by a man named Abraham whom God called. This race was chosen to be Gods Children to proclaim to the nations his plan for the world. His children, like all mankind were disobedient and sinful. However, these people were the ones who God chose to be the ancestors of his saviour. After many years the time came. After many types and examples, after many proclamations and prophesies , the time came for the saviour. His name was Jesus. He was Gods planned and proclaimed rescuer and ruler. He came to kill and dismantle the people and the deceivers evil work of rebellion. He came to kill sin on the cross. He did this by satisfying Gods righteous punishment for the evil rebellion. Every evil ever done was put on his shoulders as he was tortured and killed for them. He did this obediently loving his father to death. He was then buried and three days later rose. He did this to conquer the death that he came to kill. He then  showed himself alive to some 500 people before he ascended back to the father to rule at his right hand. His perfection is now ours. What we could not do he did. He came ushering in a new kingdom to show and display Gods plan for the world. They are a new people who would do what the old people didn’t. These are a holy nation of priests who go everywhere proclaiming their righteous saviour and this message- the good news of Jesus which was just told to you. They wait anxiously for there king to return and make all things new or for them to drop and go their reward.

God is good. We are evil, alienated from him. Christ comes to restore us to him. We receive this through faith. This is how He would restore. That is the good news. 

Gospel on the Beach

Today I got the pleasure of sitting on Waikiki beach to read my bible and pray to the God who redeemed me through the death of his son. Oh how great is our God. I am “learning to relax” as my beautiful girlfriend would put it. She spent the better parts of 20 minutes reminding me to rest in the fact that God is powerful and sufficient. That the Gospel is sufficient to save me. I was given enough grace to listen. So here I sit on the beach instead of trying to read three books at a time in a coffee shop pretending to be productive. As I look to my left I see the horseshoe shaped cove jutting out to the sea. It swoops from the east, dips in and begins its ascent back over to the other tip of the horse shoe where I am sitting. Jutting up behind the beach is Diamond head. The remnants of a massive volcanic explosion which left a crater. The zenith of which pokes out towards the water. I look up and I see massive expansive sky peppered with fluffy white clouds. As I allow my eyes to drift towards the east, out towards the ocean I detect a distinct shift in hue of the robin’s egg sky transitioning to the azure of the deep warm ocean. Slowly floating my gaze inward my eyes catch the rhythmic ebb and flow of the waves gently tumbling into the sand. To my left is my bible flapping its pages against the cell phone I am using to hold its place. To my right is my red REI backpack buttressed by my Crock sandals and the Arizona Ice Tea I had for breakfast.

Its beautiful here. But funnily I can not stop glancing at my far right as a dad plays with his small son. They first caught my eye as they both hand in hand leapt into the surf. The son beaming because of the fun the ocean gives and the dad beaming because of his son enjoyment. They must have rehearsed this procedure ten times in the past ten minutes. Running in then running out, away from the oncoming waves splashing and laughing as they go, the dad lifting up his sons arm as he fell. They both appeared as though mom had dressed them. You know what I mean, just a little too coordinated for their own good. The right blue matching the right grey. He was probably being a good husband and dad, giving her a break.

The reason I noticed them so readily was because of what I was reading. Over the past months I have been meandering my way through the book of Matthew in the Bible. It has been explosive to read these words.  Matthew, being an old school Jew saw certain things in Jesus that only a Jew would notice. He saw his Kingship. All throughout the Tanach, Jewish scriptures.  (essentially the old testament) you have a promised king being told about again and again to the Jews. He would culminate what the Jews were supposed to be about, revealing and displaying who God is to the world. The king would establish his kingdom on earth and usher in Gods glory for the rest of time. Many Jews thought this would be a military conquest. The king would gallop in with an army and dismantle the oppressors with a final battle solidifying Israel as the number one power on earth. That is why many during Jesus time thought that if the king was going to come then, he would most certainly take out the Romans, the ruling oppressors of their day. No one ever thought of a spiritual king. One who would come renewing hearts and establishing his kingdom through the promise of new life in him. That is why Jesus came, too make all things new. He came preaching that we were evil, alienated from the creator of all things. The creator was a loving, compassionate, just father, who sent his only Son (Jesus) to redeem and restore creation back to him. Jesus’ whole life was oriented around establishing that idea. He came talking about a new people who would believe this and have their lives changed by the father. These people would be created anew, to be returned to their father who loves them. These people would be governed in this radical new life by a different set of ideas. Ones that centered on who their savior was and what he did rather then arbitrary rules and obligations. This was Jesus’ kingdom. He is the king of it. And it withstands and is growing today.

That is why Matthew is filled with new paradigms and strange, countercultural ideas like “blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall comforted”. Jesus  wants to show what this kingdom looks like. Matthew is the declaration of independence for the Gospel. This is why these characteristics are all based on the gospel as the guiding core of all morality. A principled pragmatism as my Soma friends would say.

So as I was reading this morning on the beach I came upon another one of those instances in Matthew 18:1-4. Christ was yet again setting up his kingdom and what he wanted it to look like. And again in very “Jesus-y” fashion it was counter cultural. As his disciples were talking they came to him with a question, “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”. Jesus looks around, and calls a little kid to his over to sit on his lap. He looks at the kid and looks at them and says, “whoever humbles himself like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.  I read this and thought what does that mean? That’s a huge category to try to find meaning in-kids? Then I was reminded of something, I cannot discern anything spiritual without the spirit of God. So asked for his aid. As I raised my head this son and dad caught my eye. I just sat there and watched for a minute. There they were, running in and out of the water together having a blast. The first thing I noticed was that the Dad was not there because he loved giggling and running in water. He was there because he loved his kid. But it wasn’t a  broad father-son love it was a very specific “I am completely enamored with the child”. He wasn’t there because he loved water, he was there because his son does. He was selfishly enjoying his sons enjoyment. As I looked on, they began to doodle in the sand. The kid didn’t really know how to write letters so his dad was trying to show him. His dad grabbed his index finger and impressed it gently into the sand and made the first letter of his sons name. He then moved the right of this symbol and drew it again this time on his own, showing his son. As he looked and nodded at his child he began to write the rest of his name. While he was looking at his handiwork he turned around to see his son smearing his palm all over the letters. He hadn’t been writing as his dad turned around he had been, well smearing. His dad laughed and they returned to jumping around in the ocean.

I looked back at the pages of my bible and then back to the pair. I realized that kids cant even help but being humble in a way. This is what I mean. There is an inherent lowly quality in kids. They are in almost every way, by nature of size, maturity, emotional and intellectual depth, found lacking compared  to adults (all through there are some adults to which this principle does not apply). The most agreeable and sensible children are those who listen. They realize that there lack of experience etc. is lacking and they need to come under your wisdom. The child in this instance is wonderful to be around because they are realistic. They do not think that they are more then they are. They are humble. This is what Christ is calling us to in him. This is what the gospel implores us to do. If we are in the gospel then how else can we be postured other then being committed to death in obedience to the loving savior that gave away everything to make me a child of the father, a brother of him. We have to be enamored with our father and not simply the ocean. Christ is saying that my kingdom must be filled with children looking towards there smiling father. He holds our hands as we frolic in the waves and he smiles as we smear our hands over the things he is showing us. Our father has returned us to him.

However, when we forget the gospel, when we seek after other things for significance and identity- in essence worship them, we become like the worst kind of child. The obstenent  kind.  Imagine a time at which you attempted to reason with a child, maybe this was a nephew, sibling, or son/daughter, perhaps even the object of your reasoning is for their safety. Then imagine that the child completely disagrees. In the face of what seems to you obvious and inevitable danger the child still wishes to do what it wants to do. How frustrated do you become? How silly are they? But is this not us in the face of our loving father?

This is why we cannot forget the gospel. It says that in our rebellion we, like the prodigal son have left our fathers love. We rebel and hate him with our sin, taking our inheritance and squandering it on evil. But in the midst of this, God pursues. He becomes us to save us. He takes on our form to be put in our place of very deserved punishment. He is tortured and killed for our sin where we were meant to be tortured and killed. He the rises and defeats the sin and death that was so justly ours. He then presents himself to us, perfect and in glory welcoming us back to him to be with the father who loves us. We take advantage of this through faith and through it we are given the Spirit of God to enable us to live in response to Christ telling the world about him. He frees us up to be children you see. With out Jesus we could never be children. He allows us to be so. Paul says it this way:

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you have received the spirit of  adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba! (daddy) father! The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

We are his children. Let us trust him. Let us love him. Let him be our Joy and Salvation. He has proven it to us on the cross.

By the power of God given to me in Christ I want to be a child. Please give this to me King.

Amen

Adaption of Kierkegard's Parable of the King and the Maiden

"There once was a king who loved a humble maiden. This king was of uncommon royal lineage. He was a king above kings, with power and might to make all others humble before him. Statesmen trembled at his pronouncements. None dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all who opposed him. The wealth of his holdings was unfathomable. Tribute arrived on a daily basis from lesser kings who hoped to gain his favor.

And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in the poorest village in his vast kingdom. He longed to go to this maiden and announce his love for her, but here arose the king’s dilemma: how to declare his love? Certainly, he could appear before her resplendent in his royal robes and surrounded with the Royal Guard, ready to carry her away in a carriage inlaid with gold and precious stones. He could bring her to the palace and crown her head with jewels and clothe her in the finest silks. She would surely not resist this type of proposal, for no one dared to resist the king.

But would she love him?

She might say she loved him. She might be awed by his royal splendor and tremble at the thought of being blessed with such an amazing opportunity. She might tell herself that she would be foolish to reject such a marriage proposal. But would she love him, or would she go through the motions all the while living a life of empty duty, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she love him or regret the moment of being face to face with the overwhelming grandure of the king?

Or would she be happy at his side, loving him for himself and not for his title or riches or power?

He did not want a wife who behaved as a subject to his royal decrees, cringing at his word and unwilling to do anything but agree with all he said and did. Instead, he wanted an equal, a queen whose love knew no restrictions or limitations. He wanted an equal whose voice would speak to him at all times without hesitation. Love with his beloved maiden must mean equality with her. He wanted a relationship with the woman that had neither barriers nor walls in which he was not a king and she was not a poor subject of the crown. The love shared between them would cross the chasm that threatened to keep them apart, bringing the king and peasant together and making the unequal equal. In short, he wanted the maiden to love him for himself and not for any other reason.

He had to find a way to win the maiden’s love without overwhelming her and without destroying her free will to choose. The king realized that to win the maiden’s love, he had only one choice. He had to become like her, without power or riches and without the title of king. Only then would she be able to see him simply for who he was and not for what his position made him. He had to become her equal, and to do this he must leave all that he had.

And so one night, after all within the castle were asleep, he laid aside his golden crown and removed his rings of state. He took off his royal robes of silk and linen and redressed himself in the common clothes of the poorest of the kingdom. Leaving by way of the servant’s entrance, the king left his crown, his castle, and his kingdom behind. As the next day’s sun rose in the east, the maiden emerged from her humble cottage to find herself face to face with a stranger, a common man with kindly eyes who requested an opportunity to speak with her and, in time, to court her for her hand in marriage."

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=1737

When I Travel i Do not Believe the Gospel

To be "gospel centered" is to be based in nothing else other then the gospel. It is to have the story of the gospel inform every thought, action, idea, relationship, and lifestyle choice. We must be a "gospelled" people in every avenue of our life. This goes against the grain of much of western evangelical teaching which implicitly communicates constantly that the gospel is the beginning, not the constant whole of the Christian life. Its a good start to a life of good works. This teaching states that God Has saved you by grace but Now we must placate him with other things then the cross of Christ, namely works and behaviors condoned by western Christians. It is a linear thinking which places us on a progression to "maturity" (a hijaked term which needs to be retaken for the gospel), not a wholistic transformation. It (the gospel) is the spring board, not the water implicit in this idea. However, i believe if we dig into Gods revealed written word (didactic) as well as the over arching story of Gods redemption and reconciliation (syncratic) we find that the gospel is the entire tapestry that we live out of and are informed by. As Tim Keller would say, "The gospel is not the ABC's of christian life but rather the A-Z of the christian life".

Romans 12:1 is an amazing example of this, while there are many others. It states that; "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, [1] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] 2 Do not be conformed to this world, [3] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [4]". This is beautiful because we get both sides of the same coin in the same passage. It calls us to commit our whole selves (our body) to God in total worship. It paints a wonderful picture of selling out to the Lord. This results in spiritual worship. This passage paints a mural of obedience. However, where does this obedience come from? Well, and to use the tired axiom, "what is the therefore, therefore"? Why is he asking us to do this? Because of the mercies of God. What are they? He has been talking about them for the last eleven chapters. Before chapter 12 he has been teasing apart a myriad of different implications of the Gospel. This is ground breaking. What Paul has said is that because of Christ reconciling you back to the Father, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. The gospel is the reason that you are to do this, not because God would like you better or you would be more mature if you did (while this is partly true) or even that it is the right thing to do. This is a morality based off of mercy not alteration of behavior.

However, that means that if we are in sin, then it is a matter of belief and not of "trying harder". This is what i mean. If we are living life out of the gospel, out of faith in who Jesus is and what he does, then our change is completely alienated from our work. This sounds strange but what does the gospel inform us about how we are saved? Where is our will or ability factored in?

Ephesians 2: 1-10 says that; And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body [1] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But [2] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

And again in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that; 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, [2] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being [3] might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him [4] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

And again in Romans 8:28-30 that; And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, [7] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

It is God who justifies! The gospel informs our thinking by showing that our salvation has never been about us. We have nothing to do with us. A dead man has never made himself alive. We need Gods power in us to raise us from the dead because Christ hung on a bloody cross and rose again leaving an empty tomb. Therefore, what does our repentance look like if we are Gospel centered? It certainly doesn't have a lot to do with us.

When having this conversation with an old saint that I had done life with for a time we hit a barrier in his understanding. He could not see how we could have so little to do with our change. "We have to make the decision!" he said through gritted teeth. The problem latent in his thinking was that he had through time been pumped full of processes and ways to help you repent when the at the heart of his sin was not a behavior but something that he valued more then then Jesus. He had right practice but not right belief. His orthapraxy did not come from his orthadoxy. So often we do not follow a gospel model of repentance. We do not obey because of the mercies of God but usually out of guilt and fear. If we are truly responding out of "the mercies" (ie the gospel) of God, what do we look like?

The Truth of the gospel usually instills in us the opposite of what we repent out of. The gospel says that we do not get what we deserve. Its glorious declaration is that of "grace upon grace". It tells a story of a perfect and holy God who creates people in a perfect and loving relationship with Him. They have the greatest joy possible with their creator-their Father. He is their reason, in the midst of His love is they find their identity. They walk with Him and He talks with them. One day they are promised something better- to be like Him . This promise is a lie coming from an ancient and known deceiver but the promise of power and fulfillment in themselves is too much to turn down. They try to take it but in doing so fall into the deception and are found to be children who do not love their Dad. This hatred brings in disobedience, something that was never known before and cannot exist with this perfect King. However, their loving and gracious Father promises another Son who is to come which will somehow overcome this horrible mistake. They bring this love of other things into the world and their children fall into it, as do there children until an entire race is captivated with things other then their Father. The Father calls some to him and calls them to show what he is like to the other children who have disobeyed. However, still marred by there first earthly parents these called ones still don't trust that their heavenly Father will be all they need. The Father then, in desperate and reckless love for his children, as promised sends his only perfect Son to be punished for the imperfect children's mistake. He comes showing and displaying what life with Him will be like. He is spit on and despised by the other children. They do not understand or see why he is here. They hate their perfect and holy older brother. Even the children who love him do not fully understand. He is delivered by the Father to be punished in the place of the other children. In perfect and loving submission he does this. He is tortured and killed by the very ones he came to save. The few who love him are devastated. They cower and are afraid of the other children's wrath for three days as they hide from their brothers. Then on the third day they cannot find their older Brother's body. He is not where he was laid. As they walk back from this place he reveals himself to them! He explains why the Son had to be laid down for his younger brothers and sisters. He shows them that it needed to happen because of how great the rebellion was. But he alive now and their sins are forgiven! He gives the newly justified children a charge. To tell their brothers of this great truth and to obey their father. He then left them to be reunited with them when He returned. These children then lived broken lives, but joy filled lives. When they fell back into their old disobedience they remembered how that rebellion was dead with the Son and they moved on in greater joy and obedience then before because they realized that their Father loved them because of the Son.

You see, in this Gospel, this good news, we are found to be perfect, like the Son. Not because of us as evil children but because of Him as the perfect one. We therefore cannot respond out of obligation because we have none- it has been done by the Son. We cannot respond out of guilt because everything that we have to be guilty about has been pinned on the cross. How then do we obey? Out of love. We are the children who have been given the perfect Son. When we disobey it is because we have forgotten- we have stopped believing. That is why we do not need systems or ways to re-create behavior but the gospel. We do not need rules and law to make us worshipers but rather the mercies of God.

So here I sit in a coffee shop in Honolulu, convicted. I am convicted of three things. One, i am severely worried. A worry which is brought on by a unique combination of accelerated social interaction with my dad (i dont know why but sometimes it is hard for me to talk with him) and a new place. It has revealed itself in money worries. I do not believe that God will provide for me as I move and get married. The second is a general lack of love for almost all i interact with. And the third is a fear of man which has crippled how i show and display the Son to those who do not know him. These, at the core are disbelief in the Gospel. I need to believe that God is good, that he sent his only son because he has loved me, he will provide for me. I need to believe that the greatest love was shown to me in an in love, heaving, bloody God on a cross. Out of this i can love, if i can believe it. And i need to know that it is only the fact that i stand before the Father, because of the Son, that i need to give me affirmation. That will dismantle my fear of man. Oh God grant me the ability to repent by the power of your Holy Spirit given to me because of Jesus. I need him to show me the gospel. That great and glorious truth. Oh praise be to God.

Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration

We as Gods Children are so blessed! The Gospel is so expansive and implicative, relevant and potent for every avenue and corner of our life. However, it is also declarative and simple, able to be distilled while still maintaining all of its fullness. It is simple, yet complex. Singular, yet dynamic. Correspondingly, when it is declared, usually in a simple way, the spark becomes a forest fire, the explosive power of the atom is released as the Holy spirit splits it. Its simple story, "Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration" is life giving and when it is believed death turns green.

So often though, we can substitute a part of that story for ones that we want. This is what God calls idolatry. The section most commonly substituted is redemption. We usually "create saviors" by trusting in them to be our safety, our validation, our rest, instead of Christ. Many times we put our trust in how we appear to people, how well we work, how much money we receive, or our spouses rather then the power of God to save. Romans 8 asks the beautiful question. "who is to condemn, it is God who Justifies". What are putting out as a false justification? We need not look any further then our belief in the gospel to deal with our sin. It is in Christ where we find life.

Also, in order to be the sent people that God has saved us to be, we need not look any further then Gods story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration to display the kingdom. What parts of this story do our coworkers, family, neighbors, etc. believe in? What dont they believe in? Many contexts believe in fall- some dont. This context maybe thinks that there was once a better time (this time could be a former ideology, political structure whatever) and now it is worse then before because of a man. This sounds familiar doesn't it? However, they believe in a redemption and restoration different then Gods story. It could be brought forth with a man or with a human structure. Here after listening we can start to discern where their unbelief is. We can ask them questions and display how Gods story is so much better then theirs. "How can a man fix mans problems?" "How can mans structures be expected to restore what man's structures broke?" "Wouldn't we need to go back to the begining and see if the creator of the creation could repair it?" You see how aptly Gods story can substitute man's story?

This is why we must view the Gospel as a story, beacause we are a story people. Live in Gods story, sift your life through and see new life.

Some one another Sayings

These are some of the one another saying that we talked about. Some of them are paraphrased and it is not exhaustive. Enjoy.

Romans 12:5-  We are members of one another.

Romans 12:10- love and out due honor with one another.

Romans 12:16- Live in harmony with one another without pride.

Romans 14:13-Don’t pass judgment on one another.

Romans 15:5- Live in harmony in accord with Jesus with one another.

Romans 15:7- Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.

Romans 15:14-To instruct one another.

Romans 16:16- Greet one another as Christ has greeted you

1 Corinthians 6:7- To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.

1 Corinthians 12:25-Have no division with one another.

2 Corinthians 13:11- Agree and live in peace with one another.

Galatians 5:13- Serve one another from the freedom of Christ.

Galatians 5:26- Don’t envy, be conceited towards one another.

Galatians 6:2- Bear one another's burdens because of Christ.

Ephesians 4:2-be gentle, patient and humble to one another.

Ephesians 4:25- Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members oneof another.

Ephesians 4:32- Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 5:19- addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Ephesians 5:21- submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Collosians 3:9- Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[1] with its practices

Collosians 3:13- bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Collosians 3:16- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom

1 Thesselonians 3:12- and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you,

1 Thessalonians 4:18- Therefore encourage one another with these words

1 Thessalonians 5:11- Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:15- See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

Titus 3:3-6- 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Hebrews 3:13- But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:25- not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
James 4:11- Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[1] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge

James 5:9- Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

James 5:16- Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working

1 Peter 1:22- Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

1 peter 4:8- Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:9- Show hospitality to one another without grumbling

1 Peter 4:10- As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.

1 Peter 5:5- Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward oneanother, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 John 1:7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 3:11- For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 4:7- Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

1 John 1:5- And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
 

What the bible calls the church to do is what we do.