February 2023
Community is one of those positive fuzzy terms. EVERYONE is for it! Government officials, school administrators, neighborhoods, activists, non-profits all encourage community and claim it is a priority. We want to be working together toward something, looking out for each other, and to be part of something. But sometimes this seems to have the priority of a healthy diet- we know we should, but maybe next year? We want to talk about community and the Bible's description of it.
Let's start general before we get specific. Surely, we've seen some attempts at community. With so many people talking about communities, how is our society at forming them?
DQ. What do we like about the approaches we've seen? What have we disliked?
Even though it is something everyone wants, community can be difficult to build or maintain.
Are churches good at community? That may or may not match our experience. I've had a wonderful experience with Christian community. Growing up, my parents filled our lives with friends. When I went to college, a few key people initiated with me and picked me up every week. I have a wide network of relationships now. We may look at church history and see hundreds of years of bickering between denominations, but many churches have a positive impact on their area. For a slice of history, consider hospitals in Columbus:
Behind many free clinics, food pantries, cooperative gardens, and summer programs is a church. God values community and many of his people try to honor this.
Read Romans 12:3-5. "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other..."
(1) Humans are not designed to be autonomous or self-sufficient. It may feel safer and easier to stay in, or to keep people at arm's length, but we weren't meant to function that way. Our culture is dealing with massive amounts of anxiety and loneliness. I don't find that surprising given we're made to be part of one another's lives. Paul uses this same body analogy in Ephesians 4:11-16 and 1 Corinthians 12. His picture is of dissimilar people working together and filling in weaknesses with strengths.
John Stott agrees in his book Building a Community in Christ. He says, "One of our chief evangelical blind spots has been to overlook the central importance of the church. We tend to proclaim individual salvation without moving on to the saved community". As a hyper individual focused society, we lose sight of the need for community and breeze past it in the Bible.
Read 12:6-10.
The Bible says we have different gifts and roles. We're not to pretend to love others, but have genuine affection. (2) Humans are not intended to be self-focused. A lot of gatherings are people standing together but thinking of themselves. We are left wanting more.
Larry Crabb says, in Becoming a True Spiritual Community, "In spiritual community, people reach deep places in each other's hearts that are not often or easily reached. They discover places beneath the awkwardness of wanting to embrace and cry and share opinions. They openly express love and reveal fear, even though they feel so unaccustomed to that level of intimacy". Too often we stop short of the community we want because we feel awkward. We are unaccustomed to being genuine or engaging at a deeper level. Or we are not sure how to do this.
DQ. What would it look like for you to love others with genuine affection? If you don't feel affection now, how would you cultivate some?
Read 12:16. "Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all".
(3) Without community, it is easy to become conceited and deceived. Hebrews 3:13 affirms this, saying we should exhort one another daily so we will not be deceived by sin and hardened against God. We are familiar with confirmation bias in social media algorithms, how they select what we agree with and want to hear. It does bad things! On our own, we have 100% confirmation bias! We think we're right and there is no one to dispel it.
What does a spiritual community have that others don't? God.
Jesus says in John 13:34-35, "Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples". Note, he has as he has loved us. Christian communities have a central basis outside themselves. Jesus loves us, died for us, and advocates for us. He is the cornerstone of Christian community. Other groups have common ground, sports or interests, but identity is the strongest common ground of all. This is part of why identity politics have exploded. Sharing an identity is the most powerful bond to share. Galatians 3:28 says our primary identity is not based on race or gender, but on being unified in Christ, once we receive Christ's forgiveness. As such, the effort for community doesn't start or end with us.
Luke's picture of community in Acts 2:42 has become a watchword for our church. He says, "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's supper), and to prayer". The early Christians studied together, hung out together, shared meals, and prayed together. Jesus and the Apostles set the example for spiritual community. Jesus gather twelve guys for three years. They traveled and did everything together. The Apostles made a tight-knit group in Jerusalem. They lived and worked together. Paul formed churches across the world with an adventurous team of close friends. Communities often function best as small groups, part of a larger whole. Our church imperfectly strives for this with home groups and bigger meetings.
DQ. Why would we keep spiritual community at arm's length?
DQ. How can we rely on the Spirit more in our relationships?
For a seven part series on Columbus medical centers, see The Ohio State University Library's Medical Heritage Center blog. https://library.osu.edu/site/mhcb/2012/10/29/childrens-hospital-2/. Accessed 26 February 2023.