The Friendly Confines (Friday Devotional)

 

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. 

- Romans 12:15

This past Monday, my family and I had the pleasure of attending a ballgame at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where we watched the Cubbies soundly defeat the San Francisco Giants. It was a beautiful day at the ballpark—warmer than you might expect from the Windy City, but lovely nevertheless. Between the giant American flag unfurled before the game, the dominant pitching from the Cubs’ starter, and the stadium singalong of “Go Cubs Go” after the final out, it was a truly idyllic day at the Friendly Confines.

Then we boarded the El train to get back to downtown Chicago. It certainly felt like all 40,000 fans who’d attended the game were in our car, packed as tightly as sardines in a can and smelling about the same. Standing shoulder to shoulder and sweating profusely, nobody on that train was comfortable.

And yet, everybody’s spirits remained high, despite the tight quarters and the heat. We commiserated together over the shared experience and celebrated together over the great game we’d all gotten to see. For 20 minutes, that car was a different sort of Friendly Confines—it may not have been comfortable, but we were all in it together.

The Bible tells us that spiritual fellowship is meant to be like that—that brothers and sisters in Christ are supposed to remain unified in good times and bad times, bound together by a shared love for the Lord and for each other. Fellow believers rejoice together and mourn together, experiencing life’s joys and its pains as a spiritual family. We do this because the one who holds us together looms so much larger than whatever experiences life throws at us—as long as we have Jesus, we know we can make it.

If we follow the Bible’s command and the Lord’s example, then the church is a place where believers of all backgrounds and circumstances find encouragement, comfort, and hope. For when we come together in Jesus’ name, the church should become the friendliest of confines.