Yet it is at precisely that moment when the liar convinces us to scatter and hide in holes of our own making. When you've been hurt or betrayed or scandalized, your flesh, your culture, and your enemy conspire to convince you to run. Now here's where the choice has to be made. The will of God, you see, is always counterculture. It is always in defiance of the flesh.
Independence is to be scrapped, and replaced with interdependence and mutual accountability.
But none of this happens automatically. People can join churches and hide in the pews, avoiding God, responsibility, themselves, and each other, blissfully masking their unconnectedness in the counterfeit atmosphere of churchianity. I'm talking about forming relationships of mutual trust and transparency, of open communication and sharing, of speaking the truth in love, of encouragement and admonition. I'm talking about a linking together of lives by mutual covenant in the care of God. The key element is relationship marked by trust, communication, and commitment.