Thursday, February 5, 2009
What Is Community?
Community is the new buzzword that is particularly popular among young, emerging churches. The concept to most people, from what I've ascertained, is something like 'we all in live close proximity, eat chicken wings at alternating houses, wear matching robes and watch each other's screaming kids while pretending to enjoy it' (perhaps I'm exagerating). But I don't think the Apostle Paul liked chicken wings or watching other people's screaming children (he liked to scream himself). Facebook and other online social networks, for instance, have helped to redefine community for many people. I, for one, am a HUGE fan of facebook. It allows me to reconnect with people I haven't seen or might not otherwise see at a time that is conveient for me (like 3am. Now who would I chat with then...hi to the only follower of the blog so far). So, what is community? Biblically, it is Acts 2:41-47. In society at large, it is anywhere you can connect with people and interact, whatever form that takes. Jesus called us to make disciples of all men, but you can't do that if you don't connect. Spoken from an isolationist like myself, that's strong language. So, get connecting...and pass the chicken wings.
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You are so right about community. It has been refined by technology. We are a global society connected by our common-unity, whatever the common entity may be. Common cause, common belief(s), common vision…. For Christians at large the one thing we share in common which unifies is Christ. From the general clump we then form smaller groups according to common interest, callings…I too am a huge fan of the technology that is available to us. There is so much of it out there, which is free and easily accessible. It offers one a collective of thought, verb and research that one otherwise would have taken a lifetime to compile and by the time one would have complied the information the reason for the compilation probably would have ceased to exist. We are now able to gather information at the click of the keyboard. We are able to pray in agreement with our brothers and sister across nations as though we were in the same room. It’s so cool. It could explain however how why word says in the last days they will be “weaker and wiser”. Our strength in part came from the fact that we learned experientially. This form of learning invoked and built the muscle of our faith as we waited to glean the lesson. Now we have the answers to questions that we have yet to be asked. For our generation it is awesome because we have the balance between knowledge and experience which hopefully makes us wiser and stronger. I believe for the next generation we must offer vehicles of experiential learning (missions…) that they may be able to balance, that the streams of information don’t far out way the practical application of all the information to the real world and the one most important thing our relationship to God in the context of all these things. Just ranting out of sleep deprivation: D Now where are those chicken wings.
ReplyDeleteTo me,
ReplyDeleteto define community,it is best to talk about what it is not. It is not Socialism or Communism. We are not all to run around saying we should have the same and never enough.communism says that everyone is equal in status. What that really means is that everyone, but the select chosen ones. In God's kingdom, communism doesn't work becasue we reap what WE sow. The whole kingdom is based on this principle. By being socialistic in approach, tells people that they don't have to be responsible for their actions because they will be taken care of no matter what. God doesn't want all Christians to just hang out in a Commune. That is why he told them to go to all of the WORLD to make diciples, not sit around and eat mazza soup with other christians. community is not co-dependancy. It is not a sick way of being co-dependant so that I am responsible to meet everyones needs or I feel bad and like a bad person. It is God dependant. Most Christians spend more time trying to please people than God. I am not here to make people feel better about themselves, but to make disciples. When people are always pleasing other people then they are not challanging them to grow up spiritually, but to depend on and please people.