Some thoughts on community:
Communities are defined by those inside and those outside; the Church is a community that exists for the sake of those outside of it.
The community established by Jesus should accept and welcome everyone on the sole basis of their value as a human being, dearly loved by the Creator.
Jesus' community cares about people so much that it is unwilling to see them destroy themselves, others, or the world around them. His Church will do everything that love demands it to do to prevent that destruction.
Community is not possible without a significant level of personal knowledge and transparency; it is not possible to have community with people who you do not know or do not know you.
Communities are full of people who belong to each other. Despite the personal price (in terms of annoyance, lost energy or time, money, emotional pain, misunderstanding, etc.) people will not abandon the relationships within the community.
The Church contains within itself (this is somewhat misleading as the Divine Wind is also present within the Church) all that it needs to function in power and blessing. The community on the Way of Jesus needs no additional 'ministries' or 'programs,' parachurch organizations or governing bodies, to accomplish the purposes of God for which it has been placed upon the earth. "The local Church is the hope of the world!"
God's community is not divided by economic, racial, gender, sexual, political, social, educational, or any other lines.
6 comments:
I wrote a skit one time for church on this very topic. We were doing our community groups (small groups) kickoff, and I did a take-off on Cheers. Basically, it was a small group sitting around a table in a living room, and it was an exact parody of the guys sitting around the bar at cheers.
Even look at the Cheers theme song. Here's the Lyrics -
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.
Do you still have the skit written out?
It sounds intriguing. I remember our pastor once discribing the community that can be found in a bar as a parody of what God intended, but unfortunately sometimes a community closer to Gods reality than what the church has to offer...
I think so ... let me check when I get home tonight.
I appreciate that you noted on the price of community. All too often people talk of community & desire it, but when it gets down to the nitty gritty of it all, many wont pay the price to experience true community. I think this is because the goal, or the reason behind that desire is twisted to meet selfish longings. There has to be a holy fuel to make a community grow and I believe that happens when the goal & reason for your community is otherness. When it is no longer about "you"...but it is about what Gods heart longs for.
I found the skit. What's the best way to contact you?
schenk.steven@gmail.com
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