Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July, also referred to as Independence Day, commemerates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It got me thinking of the word "independence." I love my country and I am thankful to be an American but was curious to see what my favorite Christian author, John MacArthur, thought about the word "independence." Here's what I found (taken from http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/sg1861.htm):

Introduction

A. The Appeal of Rugged Individualism to the World

I am sure that you have seen the television commercial with the rugged, bearded, strong he-man type who runs around the woods with a big bear, advertising beer. There is a method in a commercial like that. It has a tremendous appeal to people because most people really admire rugged individualism. Here is a guy who has tamed a bear, who runs around the boondocks all by himself, and who doesn't need anything but a periodic delivery of six-packs. The same thing is true of the Marlboro ads on billboards. The Marlboro man is all alone on a horse out in the middle of nowhere -- the picture of rugged individualism. We honor people who go across the Atlantic Ocean in a dinghy, who make amazing solo flights, or who climb Mount Everest. We possess this mentality that says rugged individualism is the stuff which separates the men from the boys. We admire the scientist who walks out of his laboratory after ten years and says, "Eureka!" and receives a prize for what he has discovered. There is something that appeals to us about a person who can do something by himself and say, "I have conquered everything. I'm independent; I'm self-sufficient."

1. GOD'S DESIRE FOR DEPENDENCE

Do you know why that appeals to us? We are depraved. You say, "What do you mean?" God wants us to have a tremendous sense of dependency on others. God wants us to be a family. When Cain had slain his brother Abel, God said to him, "Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9). Ever since the Fall, man has disdained the thought of responsibility for other people. Man has definitely desired to be independent of any responsibility. That is one of the reasons that God, in the Old Testament, made any individual who sinned carry a weight of responsibility that extended to his entire family (e.g., Achan; Josh. 7). God was communicating a message: "You are your brother's keeper. You are dependent on other people. I don't want rugged individualism."

2. SATAN'S DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE

Satan, in response, has built into the heart of man this concept of independence -- needing nothing and nobody -- as the epitome of life. The fact is that this is the very opposite of what God wants. The philosophy of today is: "Do your own thing." The music of today is: "I did it my way." All of this echoes the same philosophy that is echoed by the man with the bear and the beer: You don't need anyone or anything -- you are sufficient. It is the philosophy in the poem Invictus, which says that I am the captain of my fate and the master of my soul.

B. The Attitude of Rugged Individualism in the Church

This attitude pervades our society to the degree that it even finds its way into the church. We tend to translate a little of this philosophy into our theology. We think that because we have Christ and the Holy Spirit, we are sufficient and we don't need anyone else. It is then that we have missed the point altogether. Since we don't live communally, as they did in the Old Testament when they lived in tribes, or as they did in the New Testament when they still lived in the father's house, Christians have fostered the same independent attitude from the world. So, in the backlash of all of this, the church struggles today to try and regain the concept that the church is one body with many members. We have a tremendous responsibility for dependency on each other, and that has to be the general attitude for the Christian life.

1. THE PROPONENTS OF INTERDEPENDENCE

a. Jesus

I suppose that there will be some people who will say, "Look at Jesus. He was a rugged individualist." Was He? Jesus spent the first thirty years of His life living with His family. I don't think He ever left and lived on His own. The next three years of His life He spent with twelve men in the midst of His ministry.

b. Paul

You say, "But Paul was a rugged individualist." No, I don't think Paul ever went anywhere without somebody going with him. I don't like to go anywhere without some company. I like to have someone to lean on, someone to minister to me, and someone to whom I can minister, pray with, share with, and labor with. I'm sure Paul felt the same. In Romans 16:1- 15 Paul lists the names of the many people who helped him, who accompanied him, whom he loved, and who ministered to him, with him, and for him. In Colossians 4:7-17 there is a similar list. In 2 Timothy 4:9-21 there are more names. In the Book of Acts, Paul starts out with Barnabas (Ac. 13:2), then John Mark (Ac. 13:13), then Silas (Ac. 15:40), then Timothy (Ac. 16:3), and then Luke. Someone was usually sharing in the ministry with him -- someone with whom he could minister, someone to whom he could pour out his heart, and someone for whom he could be a source of strength.

There is no place in God's plan or in biblical theology for rugged individualism. There is no reason to think that you are isolated. You are your brother's keeper.