The New Testament uses the phrase one another 59 times. That’s right, 59. That’s just under 60 exhortations in Scripture to actually do something toward another person. These are behaviors we may do out of an overflow of our relationship with Jesus, but they are not things that we do solely unto Jesus. Other people must be involved in order to fulfill them. Many of them have been taught by the church in the Sunday pulpit, but few of them have the opportunity to be lived out by believers within the context of most church programming.
Mark Howell posted a blog article about two quotes he heard from Andy Stanley at a conference he attended. The first was:
The primary activity of the church was one-anothering one another. — Andy Stanley
Take a moment and run that through your filter of biblical knowledge. Consider the veracity of that statement and then consider how intentional we can be at strategies that don’t include this primary activity. We can be intentional about getting people stationed at posts, plugged into programs and delivering curriculum, but where are we intentional about one-anothering?
The second quote Mark shared:
When everyone is sitting in rows … you can’t do any one anothers. — Andy Stanley
If the majority of the church’s focus is herding people into rows, we will not have an abundance of opportunities to “be the church.” When we’re intentional about guiding the church toward biblical community, we create more space for the one-anothers. It’s so much easier to do one-anothering in circles than rows.
Below is a list of the 59 one anothers of the New Testament. Read each one and visualize how they can be walked out in your small group:
The 59 “One Anothers” of the New Testament
1. “Be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:50)
2. “Wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)
3-7. “Love one another.” Five times in John’s gospel (John 13:34a; John 13:34b; John 13:35,; John 15:12 ; John 15:17)
8. “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” (Romans 12:10)
9. “Honor one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10)
10. “Live in harmony with one another.” (Romans 12:16)
11. “Love one another.” (Romans 13:8)
12. “Stop passing judgment on one another.” (Romans 14:13)
13. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” (Romans 15:7)
14. “Instruct one another.” (Romans 15:14)
15. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (Romans 16:16)
16. “When you come together to eat, wait for each other.” (I Cor. 11:33)
17. “Have equal concern for each other.” (I Corinthians 12:25)
18-19. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (I Corinthians 16:20 and II Corinthians 13:12)
20. “Serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:13)
21. “If you keep on biting and devouring each other … you will be destroyed by each other.” ?(Galatians 5:15)
22. “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:26)
23. “Carry each other’s burdens.” (Galatians 6:2)
24. “Be patient, bearing with each another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)
25. “Be kind and compassionate to each another.” (Ephesians 4:32)
26. “Forgiving each other.” (Ephesians 4:32)
27. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” (Ephesians 5:19)
28. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)
29. “In humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
30. “Do not lie to each other.” (Colossians 3:9)
31. “Bear with each other.” (Colossians 3:13)
32. “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” (Colossians 3:13)
33. “Teach … [one another].” (Colossians 3:16)
34. “Admonish one another.” (Colossians 3:16)
35. “Make your love increase and overflow for each other.” (I Thessalonians 3:12)
36. “Love each other.” (I Thessalonians 4:9)
37. “Encourage each other.”(I Thessalonians 4:18)
38. “Encourage each other.” I Thessalonians 5:11)
39. “Build each other up.” (I Thessalonians 5:11)
40. “Encourage one another daily.” (Hebrews 3:13)
41. “Spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24)
42. “Encourage one another.” (Hebrews 10:25)
43. “Do not slander each another.” (James 4:11)
44. “Don’t grumble against each other.” (James 5:9)
45. “Confess your sins to each other.” (James 5:16)
46. “Pray for each other.” (James 5:16)
47. “Love one another deeply, from the heart.” (I Peter 3:8)
48. “Live in harmony with one another.” (I Peter 3:8)
49. “Love each other deeply.” (I Peter 4:8)
50. “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (I Peter 4:9)
51. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.” (I Peter 4:10)
52. “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.” (I Peter 5:5)
53. “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” (I Peter 5:14)
54-59. “Love one another.” (Six timEs in John’s letters: I John 3:11; I John 3:23; I John 4:7; I John 4:11; I John 4:12; II John 5)
As a pastor or small group leader, is there one of these that you can be more intentional about applying with your congregation or small group members? Is there one that you’d like to see your group practice more?
