There are some folks with whom I meet, regularly and intentionally, to encourage one another in our pursuit to become more like Jesus. The church body that I call home, a small group of women, a group of married couples, and some close friends that know me (and still love me!) all are part of God’s blessed design to strengthen my faith, mold me into Christlikeness, and overall to enjoy following Him together. One of the groups I belong to was reading an assigned passage together and it struck me in a fresh way. Ephesians 2:19-22 says ”So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
You’ve probably read those verses hundreds of times, as I have, but one little phrase stood out to me. “Being fitted together”. What does it mean to be fitted together?
The phrase conveys the meaning of smoothing out an edge here, rubbing off an edge there, so that two pieces can be joined in construction, dovetailed, coordinated, harmonized. “Fitted together” is different from “piled up together” or even “seated together”. It implies change, adjustments, connections, contributions, modifications. All done in order to accomplish an intended design.
Since I Peter 2:5 calls us “living stones”, it is helpful to include that as we apply this verse. Think of an accumulation of stones, piled upon the Rock, Jesus Christ our Cornerstone. Being randomly stacked together is much like the folks I see on my regular trips to Kroger, especially Stephanie, my favorite checkout clerk. We smile and chat and are glad to see one another but there is nothing required to “fit together”. Sort of like Christians visiting around churches but never settling on one.
Or we can be closely aligned (but still not “fitted together”). Such as the great group of folks I do step class with at St Marys Wellness Center. They are my friends, my workout buddies, and absolutely precious people. We are even all pretty committed to our wellness routines! But not “fitted together”. The most required of us amongst ourselves is to arrange our step benches so that we all can fit. Kind of like regular attenders at church….no real commitment or change required.
So what does it mean to be “living stones”, “fitted together”, as the apostles Peter and Paul exhort us? First, we cannot skip over Christ as our Cornerstone. This “stone which the builders rejected” is of primary importance. He is our foundation (holds us secure) , blueprint (for the dwelling place of God), and our purpose(to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God). Without Him, we are just meaningless rocks – not living stones!
Not only are we built upon Christ, He also intends for us to be “fitted together” with one another. This means we have been designed to not be a solitary rock, nor piled up randomly, nor even to lie close beside other living stones. Rather we are to be customized in order to be a useful piece in the overall structure. Beginning with our original motif (our gifts and talents), we progress through shaping and sharpening(sanctification) so that we mesh perfectly with other living stones for the sake of becoming a beautiful and beneficial display of the glory of God. “Fitted together” means we must be in committed community with other “living stones”. Not just enjoying church, not only regularly attending, not even only being a church member. Instead, it is being committed to a local group of believers with whom we can learn and grow and serve and change …”fitted together”.
This is how we are able to display to the world the essence of who God is, edify other believers, and become conformed to the image of The Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. I hope you will commit yourself to be “fitted together” for Him.