Don't Be a Spiritual Lone Ranger

“Man was formed for society.” – Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England

Sir William Blackstone was an English jurist, justice, and Tory politician who lived during the mid to late 1700s. He was admitted to the bar in 1746 but failed to make his mark as a barrister. Instead, Blackstone embarked on a successful career as a college administrator, credited for completing several buildings at Oxford including a new library and simplifying its complex accounting system.

However, Blackstone’s greatest success came as an author and lecturer on the subject of English law. Blackstone’s lectures were wildly popular, earning him a handsome income. In 1756, he published An Analysis of the Laws of England and it repeatedly sold out.

Blackstone’s literary triumph led to the revival of his law practice and to his election to Parliament in 1761. Four years later he published the first of four volumes titled Commentaries on the Laws of England. The completed works were reprinted in 1770, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1778, and posthumously in 1783. Altogether, Blackstone received 14,000 British pounds for his four commentaries, the equivalent of more than 2 million British pounds today. They also greatly influenced Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, John Jay, John Adams… and later, Abraham Lincoln.

In today’s quote – perhaps without knowing it – Blackstone articulated a profound spiritual truth. From Genesis 2:18, we learn that “It is not good that man should be alone” and so, God created a companion for Adam named Eve. Approaching the cross, Jesus asked his three closest friends – Peter, James, and John – to keep watch with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. And in Hebrews 10:25, we are admonished “not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.”

My friend, Christianity is a religion that is meant to be lived in communion and fellowship with other believers. If you try to be a spiritual “Lone Ranger,” you are an easy target for Satan, who “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).

In the African Serengeti, lions don’t attack the middle of a herd. Instead, they look for old and weak animals who can’t keep up… or lost animals that have foolishly wandered away.

Remember, there is safety in numbers!

“Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.” I Peter 5:8-9 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President