First, I believe in Christ-followers seeking community because I believe it is a characteristic that, when embraced by a person or people, has the potential to further the kingdom of God. Seeking community is encouraged in scripture, and really the idea begins to take an exemplary form in the book of Acts, when the Church forms and is shown to meet together because of their belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Believers are shown to meet in their homes to break bread, share stories, worship together, and love one another in the name of Jesus.
Perhaps community begins much earlier than that point in time, according to the Bible. In fact, when has scripture ever shown that it was good for man to be alone? Even in Genesis we are given the example of Adam needing Eve. It was not good for him to be alone. He didn't need her in the sense that man needs God. He didn't need her in the sense that man needs food, or clothes, or shelter. He needed her in a different way. He needed her to commune with her, and in this, they glorified the Lord together, more so than Adam could glorify the Lord alone. He needed someone to walk through life with.
Though peace is found in solitude, loneliness is found in isolation. It's one situation to withdraw to a quiet place and spend some time alone or to intentionally seek the Lord's presence on your own. It's an entire other situation to lock oneself up from the outside world, never bothering to leave the comfort of one's bubble to see what opportunity may lie outside the walls of one's own heart. Even Christ withdrew to a quiet place to pray, but he also interacted with others to serve them and formed a close-knit group of friends to glorify the Lord with. There is such beauty in communing with others.
Being an Anthropology major for the past two years, I've learned that people are by nature social creatures. We like being accepted. We like being loved. We like being served. It's as if a part deep inside us is made to have community. I would say that scripture very much agrees. We are encouraged to love another, to fellowship together, to seek counsel from one another, to sharpen one another, and on and on and on.
So, we've defined what communing is and even the purpose for it, but the bigger point I want to address is what community isn't-and this is what has been on my heart as of late.
Community isn't about finding fulfillment in others for your own enjoyment. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors-not to use them. My dear friend Amy published an inspiring blog post on this topic here. The message of Christianity is that the Son of God died for every weary sinner so that we may have life, both present and eternal. Because of this grace and love we have received, we are called to extend love and grace to others. We are redeemed for service. It's our very reason for existing. We are called to love God and love others. To love God is to love others. They go hand in hand. The question, when pursuing community, should be, 'how can I serve others?', rather than, 'how can they serve me?'
Community isn't where our identities are to be found. I see far too many people cling to friends and social groups for their absolute everything, only to be let down as soon as they become too dependent on them. I came across a fantastic quote by Chad Eastman that reads, 'You have to know not only who you are, but more important, whose you are. If you can't embrace that, you will always be trying to fill a void. Many people, and perhaps even you, try so hard to find worth, beauty, and confidence in your relationships. Then, you are disappointed when your efforts fail'. When we distort seeking community into seeking identity, we are setting ourselves up for failure. If your confidence is in your friends alone, then you will hit rock bottom when those friends fail you. Even the best person you know will fail you if you are depending on him or her for complete satisfaction, because that person is only a mere human. Our hope can be built on nothing less than Jesus Christ.
Community is about intentionally seeking relationships so that the kingdom of the Lord can be furthered. Some of the best ways I've seen this lived out-and experienced for myself-have been in the form of mentor relationships. Other examples are through discipleship, parental relationships, and accountability relationships. Sometimes these relationships are found through bible studies, while other times they are simply found in every day life. These types of community, when sought with a servant's humble heart, have the potential to grow both people in the name of Christ-for the glory of the Lord.
That's all that's on my mind for now, but sometime soon I want to address the issue of what I've heard a lot of people call 'the Christian Bubble', or the idea of the Christian community becoming negatively exclusive-which I definitely believe can-and does-happen.
Until then!
