In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
My previous article established that the church is an assembly, and that assembling is therefore the church’s most basic duty. We assemble primarily for worship, though many things flow out of worship.
What are some of those things? What are our duties toward our fellow assembly-members? The Bible’s instructions to the assembly can be outlined in five categories. Each of these categories connect to one another and overlap – you can’t have some without the others! – but it is important to consider them individually.
First up: Love one another.
This should be an obvious one. The scriptures frequently command Christians to love one another. This command forms the foundation for all subsequent commands. To be clear, I’m not speaking of love for God, though that is necessary as well. This series deals with how Christians relate to Christians. We are commanded to love the assembly. We are commanded to love our fellow-assembly members. Loving God comes easy for Christians; loving other Christians takes work.
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