God did not design a man to be able to fight his spiritual battles alone. The proof is Mark 6:7-8, where we read, “Calling the twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. These were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.’”You DON’T need a cooler full of food, a duffel bag with your personal items, extra money, or even an extra change of clothes. But there is one thing you DO need. YOU DO NEED A BROTHER.
In Luke 10 Jesus sends out the seventy, and once again it is two by two. “After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go”.Today, Christ-followers are sent out into the world to show Christ to the world and make disciples as surely as the seventy were. That is the calling of all Christians—and we are to go out 2 X 2.
It is high time that we in the church tear down the humanistic lie that Christian men can walk with Christ BY THEMSELVES. Eph. 4:15 makes it clear that spiritual growth into Christ, the head, happens through connection in the body. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Relationships built on brotherly love in which men discuss the truth of God as they go through life is God’s ordained means of spiritual growth.
Ninety-five percent of Christian men have no such connection, where they discuss the way God’s truth is changing their lives. The purpose of men’s ministry is to change that statistic! Building such relationships is tough for men. If it were easy, every man would have a few brothers he confessed his sins to. As core members of the men’s ministry in our churches, we need to be intentional about modeling such connections ourselves and always thinking strategically about helping our men get connected.
Only God knows how many spiritual battles men are losing today because they are going out 1 X 1. Please help us change this pattern. If you are NOT getting connected to some brothers, you are part of the problem!! Please be part of the solution!!
Click here for resources to help men forge bonds of brotherhood with other Christian men.
