.::discover::understand::be::.

a church full of Johns...

community.

this word has become the poster child of our churches... only the child is nothing but a cartoon pencil drawing, erased as quickly as it was created.

this word has become the rallying cry of the people who occupy the pews on sunday morning... only to have the cry fade to a whisper, as we exit the building and set out on our own journeys, alone.

this word has become the way we desire to live, the way we will be “identified as followers of Jesus”. only we live this way the first and third wednesdays of the month from 6pm - 7:30pm, and not a minute later or we’ll miss simon, paula, and randy. (ironically we may have a deeper connection with them compared to those we were just with)

community has been my poster child, my rally cry, and the way i desire to live, but i’ve got a long way to go.

i have experienced the life changing power of community. as look back on my spiritual journey, and i look to the times when i felt God molding and forming me, and i see people. i see community. i see God’s face in the face of others. i feel his direction in the hands of others. i hear his comfort in the words of others. over and over again in my life, God. people. God. people. God. people. community. community. community.

but as i look closer, it was rarely organized. it was simply the heart of God coming through the heart of people.

henri nouwen wrote, “community is primarily a quality of the heart.”
this has been a reality for me. the more i surrender my heart over to community with God, the more my life is surrendered to the life changing power of community. it becomes the way i live, not the way i choose to live. because within that community with God, my heart finds security, it finds peace, it experiences comfort, and it grows in love. when my heart is experiencing these things of God, i am able to give these to those around me. my relationship with God overflows to those around me. and those around me overflow their relationship with God on me.

we are making a mistake by making and offering community as a “program” or “pillar” in our bodies of faith. to do this is to call people to a result of God’s love without experiencing it first. within a community, people can and will see God’s love and even feel God’s love, but we need to remember it’s God’s love, not the community, that touches their hearts. the community is God’s love in action. by pimping community within our churches as a part of “spiritual development” or as a piece of “spiritual formation” is a dangerous place for us to be. we are flirting with making community our idol. and i think we know how God feels about idols.

Jesus said to love God and to love people. i know their was purpose in this order.

i think instead of calling people to “live in community” or to “live life together” or to “come along side of people”, maybe we need to call people to fall deeper and deeper in love with our Creator. i’ll say it again, call people to fall deeper and deeper in love with our Creator. to introduce people to our Creator. to show people the peace within our Creator. to offer them the strength found in our Creator. the more i fall in love with God the more God’s love falls out of me. when we cultivate organized community, without having a heart cultivated by God first, we end up with a watered down, day old, clearance rack form of life, and we label it community. i want more. i want more God. i want more people. i want more God in the people. that would bring about a life-changing, life giving community.

more God in more people.

i think the key to understanding and living in a life changing and life giving community can be found in the perfect relationship shared within the Trinity. Father. Son. Holy Ghost.

it makes sense doesn’t it? we’ll never fully understand the depth of love and harmony that is shared within the Trinity in the season of eternal life.

community is the same.

i think...

posted by nathan sean @ Thursday, February 17, 2005