I don’t need you
By Johanna Braun, Pastor, Equippers Flensburg
Did you know that trees talk to each other? Beneath the ground, there is a silent conversation that researchers call the “Wood Wide Web.” Through their roots and fine fungal networks, they exchange information and provide for each other. It is an invisible network full of life. What if we are designed in the same way?
Nature itself shows us that life is based on community. No tree stands alone—and neither do we.
God’s idea of community
This principle does not begin with trees. God’s idea of community is revealed in the very first chapter of the Bible: the triune God creates man as a counterpart, not for isolation. “It is not good for man to be alone,” (Genesis 2:18), says God – and puts him in relationship.
And yet, as digitally connected as we are, many of us feel empty. The numbers show that over half of young Germans feel lonely (Bertelsmann Stiftung 2024). Community has become an option – no longer a necessity. We have become independent and can say, “I don’t need you.” But this independence leads to insecurity and social anxiety.
God’s plan for our lives is different. He knows why he created us and what we need. That is why he created a place that is meant to give his children security and community: he founded the church.
Church – a living body
The church is not a loose association of Christians, but a living body whose head is Jesus himself, connected by the Holy Spirit. Just as trees are connected by the Wood Wide Web, Christians are united by God’s Spirit into a living organism that connects us, strengthens us, and keeps us alive.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains this image: The human body consists of many parts that only function together. So it is with the church:
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
But where many people come together, there are also conflicts and hurts. So, it’s no wonder that some say, “Jesus, yes! But church? No, thank you!”
This thought is understandable. But you cannot love Jesus separately from his body. Jesus loves his church. He calls it his bride—and was willing to give his life for her. God accepts that the church is made up of human beings. He deliberately calls us into this community to serve it and to grow and mature in and through it. This biblical image of the church is a divine, supernatural community that is only possible through the Holy Spirit who lives in believers. This enables it to fulfill its divine function in the world by leading people into a relationship with God and at the same time placing them in a genuine, powerful community with one another.
Planted in church
The church is not a place for perfect people—and that is precisely where its strength lies: we learn to forgive, to be patient, and to take responsibility. And through this, we grow in love and sanctification.
And for that, it needs you!
You benefit from genuine church fellowship through relationship. The more you get involved, open up, and become honest, the deeper what you receive will be.
So, what is stopping me from being deeply rooted in community? Fear of rejection or judgment by others, bad experiences from the past, lack of time and everyday stress, our urge for independence, and mistrust of group structures can lead us to withdraw.
You may ask yourself, “What do I actually gain from becoming part of a church/community?” An honest question—and one that many people ask themselves. And yet, it is a question we ask ourselves from the wrong perspective.
Imagine you have planted different flowers next to each other in your garden. If you keep pulling one plant out of the ground, it cannot form roots – and remains cut off from the network of the others. It survives but never grows to its full potential.
In the Wood Wide Web, stronger plants strengthen and nourish weaker ones. It’s not about the strongest winning – it’s about surviving together.
Only in community can we grow and mature. That was God’s idea of church: You need me and I need you!
“For he wants our bodies to be one inseparable unit, with each part caring for the other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)
Without spiritual fellowship, our faith withers away
So don’t let bad experiences cause you to withdraw. In nature, we can see that when a tree is cut off from the network, it is more susceptible to disease, grows more slowly, and sometimes even dies. It is the same with us: without spiritual fellowship, our faith withers away. Even if we are still alive, we no longer live in the fullness that God intended for us.
Paul explains that we are part of the body of Christ, whether we want to be or not:
“Even if the foot were to say, ‘I am not part of the body because I am not a hand,’ it would still be part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘I am not an eye, so I am not part of the body,’ it would still be part of the body.” (1 Corinthians 12:15-16)
So it is up to us to decide what kind of family member we want to be, which we already are.
Called to community
However, this kind of community in God’s sense only works through the communion of each individual with God. When we love Jesus, we are transformed, becoming more and more like Jesus. Suddenly, it is no longer a question of “What do I get out of being part of the church/community?”
When we love him, our desire to serve others grows:
“After they had eaten together that morning, Jesus asked Simon, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the others here?’ ‘Yes, Lord,‘ Peter replied, ‘you know that I love you.’ ‘Then feed my lambs,’ said Jesus.” (John 21:15)
We no longer live for ourselves, but for him, and this is reflected in our service to others. The Wood Wide Web reminds us that God’s handwriting is visible everywhere. His creation preaches without words: “You are made for deep fellowship.”
Jesus was our greatest example in this: he gave his life for us.
As followers of Jesus, we are therefore called to live in fellowship with one another. We cannot separate one from the other. And that is exactly where God promises his blessing: where “brothers (and sisters) live together in peace!” (Psalm 133:1). Where we live together, forgive, carry, and grow.
Maybe today is the day you say: I want to let myself be planted.
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Johanna Braun is a pastor at Equippers Flensburg, where she leads the children’s ministry. Her heart beats for next-gen work and for children to have a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. She lives with her husband and four children in Flensburg.
