CHAPTER 15

Walking Together on Purpose

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.” Ecclesiastes 4:9 (KJV)

We have spent a lot of time talking about what happens between people: conflict, trust, growth, church, community, singleness, boundaries, burden bearing, truth, changing seasons, letting go, safety, encouragement, and love.

All of those things matter because relationships matter.

But perhaps there is a larger question underneath everything we have been learning.

Why did God give us one another in the first place?

Not so we could become one another's source. Not so we could control one another. Not so we could carry one another's entire lives. Not so we could avoid responsibility for our own walk. And not simply so life would feel less lonely.

God does something through people who learn how to walk together beneath His leadership.

We Were Never Meant to Walk Alone

Ecclesiastes continues: “For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow...” Ecclesiastes 4:10 (KJV).

Sometimes we fall. Get tired. Lose perspective. Need practical help, correction, encouragement, or simply another person to sit beside us and remind us we are not carrying a difficult season alone.

Maturity does not mean reaching a place where we never need anyone.

It means learning how to need people without asking them to become what only Christ can be.

Dependence, Independence, and Interdependence

There is unhealthy dependence that says: I cannot function without you.

There is unhealthy independence that says: I don't need anyone.

And then there is something healthier:

I belong to Christ.

I am responsible for my own walk with Him.

And I recognize that God has still designed His people to need one another.

That is interdependence.

I can receive without making you my source. Give without becoming your Savior. Ask for help without surrendering responsibility. Help you without taking over. Listen to wisdom without handing you ownership of my conscience.

Christ Is Still the Vine

Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches...” John 15:5 (KJV).

The branch beside me is not my Vine.

My spouse is not my Vine. My friend is not my Vine. My pastor is not my Vine. My mentor is not my Vine. My parent is not my Vine. My child is not my Vine.

Christ is.

That order does not make relationships less important. It makes them safer.

But Branches Do Not Pretend the Other Branches Do Not Exist

Sometimes we correct unhealthy dependence by swinging all the way toward isolation.

I have Jesus. I don't need anybody.

But Scripture does not describe the Christian life that way.

Paul describes a body: “But now are they many members, yet but one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:20 (KJV).

“And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee...” 1 Corinthians 12:21 (KJV).

We need one another, not because Christ is insufficient, but because Christ Himself chose to form a body.

None of Us Carries the Whole Body

Someone teaches. Encourages. Gives. Leads. Serves. Notices practical needs. Knows how to sit quietly beside grief. Understands something we have never experienced. Knows a resource. Opens a door. Prays when we cannot find the words. Tells us the truth. Reminds us to keep going.

None of us has everything.

We were never supposed to.

Sometimes humility looks like recognizing what God placed in someone else's hands.

Walking Together Is Part of Stewardship

People are part of what God entrusts to us. Not as possessions. As relationships to steward.

A child. Spouse. Friend. Neighbor. Church family. Someone we mentor. Someone who mentors us. Someone God allows into our life for a season.

Did I tell the truth? Love? Listen? Respect boundaries? Apologize? Encourage growth? Protect what was entrusted? Point toward Christ? Know when to help? Know when to step back? Allow another person room to become?

That is relational stewardship.

Purpose Was Never Meant to Swallow People

God can bring people together in shared purpose without one person's calling swallowing the other's.

We do not drag people into our assignment. Use them to build what God gave us. Disappear into someone else's calling. Make another person responsible for proving that God is leading us.

We walk beside one another. Listen. Serve. Speak truth. Set boundaries. Share responsibility. Make room for growth and change.

And keep asking:

Lord, what does faithfulness look like for me here?

Because purpose is still purpose led.

And purpose led still means: God leads.

Abiding in Christ. Walking Together. Growing in Purpose.

Maybe those words describe more than a ministry.

They describe a movement of discipleship.

Abiding in Christ.

We begin with Him. Before performance. Before purpose. Before trying to become something impressive. We receive. Remain. Learn His voice. Allow His Word to shape us.

Walking together.

Then what Christ is forming in us begins affecting the way we live with other people. We learn truth and grace, forgiveness and boundaries, burden bearing and responsibility, correction and encouragement, community and love.

Growing in purpose.

As we continue walking with Christ and with one another, what He has formed in us begins to be used. Not for our glory. For His.

Purpose Is Not Only About What We Build

We sometimes think purpose means creating something: a ministry, business, book, program, career, family, or platform.

Those things can be part of purpose.

But sometimes purpose looks much smaller from the outside.

A conversation. A child taught to pray. A friend encouraged not to quit. A meal delivered. A person welcomed into church. A young believer shown how to open Scripture. Someone given another chance to try. A lonely person invited to the table. A leader prayed for. A hurting person listened to. A truth spoken with love.

We may never know how far one faithful act travels.

We Do Not Have to Reach Everyone

The needs around us are enormous.

If we believe faithfulness requires personally reaching everyone, we will become exhausted or begin carrying responsibility God never gave us.

Jesus did not ask any one member of His body to become the entire body.

We steward what He places in front of us: the person, opportunity, conversation, assignment, season.

We plant what He gives us to plant and trust Him with what happens beyond us.

One Person Can Matter More Than We Know

Sometimes we encourage one person. Teach one child. Mentor one believer. Invite one person. Share Christ with one person. Open one door. Pray one prayer. Plant one seed.

And we may never know what God does with it.

Maybe they encourage someone else. Maybe the child grows up and teaches their children. Maybe the person we welcomed becomes the person who notices somebody else standing alone. Maybe someone we helped stand eventually helps another person stand.

Faithfulness can travel.

We Are Not Responsible for the Entire Chain

Paul wrote: “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” 1 Corinthians 3:6 (KJV).

That is freeing.

We participate.

God gives the increase.

Sometimes our part is simply our part. Plant. Water. Encourage. Teach. Serve. Speak. Pray. Love.

Then allow God to keep working.

Walking Together Means Making Room for Someone Else to Walk

Maybe the goal of discipleship is not to create people who always need us beside them.

Maybe it is to walk faithfully enough with them that they learn how to walk with Christ.

Then one day we notice they are standing, praying, discerning, serving, encouraging, helping someone else.

And we do not have to pull them back toward us.

We make room.

There Comes a Time to Rise

There are seasons when God is healing us, teaching us, correcting us, carrying us, giving us rest, and allowing other people to pour into us.

Those seasons matter. We should not rush them.

But receiving was never meant to become permanent passivity.

Eventually there comes a time to stand. Use what we have learned. Serve. Speak. Encourage. Take responsibility. Walk beside someone else.

Not because we have arrived. Not because every wound is gone. Not because we know everything.

Faithfulness does not require perfection before obedience.

We Keep Pointing Toward Christ

We were never meant to become the destination for one another.

When someone is hurting, point toward Christ. When someone succeeds, celebrate and point toward Christ. When someone needs correction, speak truth and point toward Christ. When someone needs encouragement, strengthen them and point toward Christ. When someone grows beyond needing us, release them and point toward Christ.

When relationships change, keep following Christ. When people disappoint us, return to Christ. When we disappoint them, repent and return to Christ.

When we do not know whether to stay, speak, wait, establish a boundary, repair, or release:

Lord, what does faithfulness require from me here?

And follow.

What Continues After Us?

Eventually every one of us will finish our part of the walk.

The question will not only be: What did I accomplish?

Maybe a better question is: What did my faithfulness help set in motion?

Who learned to pray? Forgive? Tell the truth? Get back up? Understand that failure was not the end? Open Scripture? Love? Serve? Walk with Christ?

Not because we became their source.

Because we kept pointing them toward ours.

And Then We Make Room

We were never meant to become the destination for one another.

We were meant to keep pointing toward Christ.

To abide in Him.

To walk together.

To grow in purpose.

And then, when someone beside us has learned to stand, to make room for them to reach for someone else.

Because eventually walking together becomes something more.

It becomes what we pass forward.

It becomes what continues after us.

It becomes the beginning of someone else's walk.

And eventually, it becomes legacy.