“Let Me Help”It is known as the “penultimate” Star Trek episode; simply the best episode ever made. To StarTrek aficionados it is known as Season One, Episode 28, air date April 6, 1967. To collectors of the boxed DVD set it is known as “The City On The Edge Of Forever.” While the Enterprise is investigating temporal disturbances from a nearby planet, Mr. Sulu is injured by a shock wave and explosion. Dr. McCoy gives Sulu a shot of cordrazine which saves his life. But when another shock wave rocks the Enterprise, Dr. McCoy accidentally injects himself with an overdose, rendering him delusional. He flees from the Bridge to the Transporter Room and beams himself down to the planet. Kirk and a landing party beam down to the planet surface where they find both Dr. McCoy and the source of the time distortions. An ancient glowing ring located among ageless ruins speaks and introduces itself and the “Guardian of Forever,” a gateway to other times and places. Escaping the clutches of the distracted landing party, McCoy jumps through the portal. Suddenly the landing party loses contact with the Enterprise. The Guardian explains that the past has been altered and the Enterprise no longer exists. In order to repair the timeline, Kirk and Spock must use the Guardian to go in search of McCoy. Passing through the Guardian, Kirk and Spock arrive in New York City during the 1930s Great Depression. After stealing some clothes to blend in, and running from the Police, they take refuge in the 21st Street Rescue Mission run by a woman named Edith Keeler (played by Joan Collins). They go to work for Ms. Keeler, who knows theses two are different but doesn’t know why or how. Spock devotes his time and energy to building a computer (“out of stone knives and bear skins”) in order to read information stored on his tricorder which might explain what McCoy has done to alter history. Kirk begins to fall in love with Edith, whom he finds remarkable. On an evening stroll together, Edith expresses her desire to help Kirk with whatever trouble he may be in. “Let me help,” she implores. Kirk responds by pointing Edith to a star on Orion’s belt and telling her that 100 years from then an author from a planet circling that star will write a best selling book based upon those three words, “Let Me Help,” even recommending them over “I love you.” There’s more to the episode, but I’ll leave it to you to find a copy and watch for yourself.
The “Let Me Help” of Biblical Community
By now you should be asking yourself, “How in the name of Star Fleet is he going to tie this together?” Thanks. I was hoping you would ask. The New Testament actually has a lot to say on the topic of “Let Me Help.” It simply expresses it in different language.
First, the New Testament approach to “Let Me Help” begins with those individuals whom God has gifted as leaders in the Church, specifically the itinerant 5-Fold leadership gifts: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers (described in Ephesians 4:11-16). With every gift comes a responsibility. The 5-fold calling and responsibility is to “help” by “equipping” believers for the work of service (Eph. 4:12). The Greek word translated “equip” is katartidzo, meaning “to render (something) fit”. It is used in Matthew 4:21-22 & Mark 1:19-20 to describe the disciples “mending” their nets. I like to describe the role of the 5-Fold leadership gifts as teaching the church “the fine art of mending one another’s nets”. Let’s face reality for a moment, shall we. The stress of life and ministry in this present evil age shreds our nets, sometimes beyond our ability to mend them without help, producing the messiness of life both inside and outside of the ekklesia. The calling of the 5-fold gifts is to come alongside the Church – both individually and corporately – and to say, “Let me help. I see your nets are torn in this area. Let me help you mend them.”
Second, the New Testament approach to “Let Me Help” is expressed in what I call the “One Anothers” of biblical community. The role of 5-fold leaders is to be the “tuning fork” of the Church; to set the tone of “Let Me Help,” a tone which then resonates throughout the community of believers. But the real work of building biblical community is expressed in the “One Anothers” of the New Testament. Throughout the New Testament we find commands expressly given to the Church regarding how believers are to behave toward “one another.” I have found roughly 38 of them. The most famous and most repeated “one another” is the admonition to “love one another,” which occurs some 20 times. Here is a sample of a dozen “One Anothers” (remember, there are 25 more where these came from!):
1. Love One Another
2. Be Devoted To One Another
3. Live In Harmony With One Another
4. Welcome One Another
5. Give Preference To One Another
6. Be of The Same Mind Toward One Another
7. Owe Nothing To One Another
8. Do Not Judge One Another
9. Build Up One Another
10. Accept One Another
11. Admonish One Another
12. Serve One Another
Quite frankly, these sound very “churchy,” even downright “platitudinal.” A platitude is “a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.” Another definition says a platitude is “a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.” Sound familiar? It should. That’s exactly how most believers treat the “one anothers” of Scripture. We’ve heard them so often that they no longer interest or challenge us. They have become trite and dull. And that goes a long way toward explaining why we have so little genuine biblical community in “church.” But what if we were to take a cue from StarTrek? What if we were to think of the “one anothers” of Scripture in the personalized terms of “Let Me Help.” Then the “one anothers” of Scripture might look and sound a bit more interesting, not to mention more personally challenging:
1. Let Me Love You
2. Let Me Be Devoted To You
3. Let Me Live In Harmony With You
4. Let Me Welcome You Into My Home And My Life
5. Let Me Prefer You Over Others
6. Let Me Be of One Mind With You
7. Let Me Owe You Nothing, And Absolve You Of Any Debt To Me But Love
8. Let Me Not Judge You
9. Let Me Build You Up
10. Let Me Accept You For Who You Are
11. Let Me Admonish You
12. Let Me Serve You
Sound better? The “one anothers” of biblical community (or perhaps we should call them the “Let Me Helps” of biblical community) are, first and foremost, personal admonitions, guiding individual believers in how we are to act toward other fellow believers. Expressed this way, the “Let Me Helps” of biblical community are almost embarrassingly personal. For this reason, alone it is difficult to see how genuine biblical community can exist and thrive among believers in groups larger than 15-to-20 people, or about the maximum size of an organic house church. Think about it. Just how many people can you meaningfully love, or be devoted to, or live in harmony with, or welcome into your home and life, or be of one mind with, or build up, or admonish, or serve, etc.? Yes, we can preach these values and behaviors to a mega church of 25,000 people, or to an average size American church of 360 people, but the personal and practical nature of their real-life application requires a relatively small group of 15-to-20 believers. If we need “proof” of this reality, we shouldn’t need to look further than the example of Jesus. All of these “one anothers” can be seen at work in His ministry to His twelve disciples. And I should add at this point that these “Let Me Helps” are given specifically to believers to guide their relationships with other believers. These are the values of life in the Kingdom given to guide disciples of the Kingdom in their life with one another. Their application toward unbelievers is secondary, if not tangential. If we can’t “get it right” within the Church, what hope do we have of manifesting it to unbelievers in any meaningful way?
Welcome to the “Let Me Helps” of biblical community. I’ll bet you never imagined that being a “Trekkie” could be so biblical.