Kingdom Menنموونە

Kingdom Community

I’m a big believer in easy-to-light propane BBQs, but I once had to try cooking dinner over coals in a fire pit at a friend’s house.

I just couldn’t get it to stay lit, and once lit, the coals wouldn’t get hot enough. Getting the fire going wasn’t too hard; keeping it going was much harder.

My friend eventually came to check on me and told me my problem: not enough coals.

“The coals not only heat the food, but keep each other warm,” he said. “You need enough of them to keep the heat in each other going, or the fire dies out.”

It was a good and practical coal-based cooking lesson, but it was also a much more important life lesson.

If we picture every man as a coal, this lesson teaches us that a coal can't stay hot by itself, and neither can we. Isolated from the other coals, it will quickly cool off and lose all its heat and therefore all its purpose, and our faith is a similar fire that can cool when we are isolated.

Likewise, when coals are bunched together, not only do they individually warm up, but they keep each other warm, allowing the heat to remain high so they can do their job longer.

In other words, we can't do this alone. We need the collective warmth of other believers around us to help keep the fire within us hot. When we pull away from others, the heat cools off. But the closer we are with another group of trusted Christ-followers, the greater that heat will be for all of us.

Men need other men, the church community, and family members and friends around them, all of which are crucial to their spiritual, mental, emotional, and relational well-being (Proverbs 27:17; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

While the entire world is talking about the “male loneliness epidemic,” Kingdom men see and press past that problem. Even if our natural tendency is towards introversion or isolation, we know that we are not at our best when we are by ourselves all the time, and so we make the intentional effort to connect with other believers to bring out the best in us and make us the healthiest versions of ourselves we can be.

Kingdom men value the community of other Kingdom-minded people and intentionally seek it out, knowing that the effort is worth it and that the fruit that comes from the effort is good.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the people You've placed around me in my life. Community is not always easy and sometimes can be challenging, but I know the benefits far outweigh the trials. In my own community of family, friends, and faith, may You use these people to strengthen me so that the fire always burns hot. Amen.

Reflection: Make a short list of a few people who are essential to your well-being. Send them a message today of thanks and appreciation for what they mean to you. And make a plan to get together in person soon!