¹² Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Critical to remaining faithful to God is the encouragement of the community of believers. This is key to understanding the church’s role in the lives of individual believers. If, as 1 Cor 12 teaches, we are all members of one body, and collectively we are the body of Christ, then it makes sense that to experience the “living God,” we must experience life in His body, the church. In some Christian circles, it is common to refer to the local gathering of believers as “the body”—which is a constant reminder of the true nature of the church.

Faithfulness begins, though, in the heart. A person who comes to God and begins to associate with “the body” of Christ, but has an “unbelieving heart” will fall away eventually. The genuine Christian who harbors sin, cannot compartmentalize that sin in one cordoned off area, and at the same time grow in faith in other areas. He too, will eventually fall away from truly living in Christ. This is worded so that both unbeliever and believer will be convicted over sin.

The value of the Christian community is great, and is again emphasized in Hebrews 10:23-25. Here the urgency is stressed; we as Christians need to encourage one another “as long as it is still called ‘Today.’” Too often procrastination stalls the spiritual life. “Tomorrow I will begin to have faith.” Sin doesn’t wait for tomorrow. Sin doesn’t procrastinate.” Neither should faith.

Encouragement of believers is therefore key. But what is encouragement? Not just statements intended to make each other feel good. The English word carries a sense of the original Greek word–to challenge someone to courage or strength. Isn’t that what we need from each other in the challenges of life? There is a time for sympathy and comfort, but in the walk of faith there needs to be genuine accountability where we call one another to courageous, strong resistance against the temptations to do wrong. Day by day, temptations to walk away from faithful living come at us. Day by day, we need the constant encouragement from fellow Christians to keep walking in the faith and not allow a sinful heart to grow within us.

Finally, sin is “deceitful.” By definition, when deceived we don’t know that we are being duped. Therefore, when we are being led along by sin we need others who can help us become aware, and help us turn away from it.