Pastor's Corner

BY PAUL HATHCOAT

At the mere mention of the word community, people often eye you as if you had dropped in from another world, smile tolerantly and hope you change the subject. Good, sensible, Christian people. They fear that you’re going to tell them they have to sell all they own, move to a farm, wear bib overalls and raise peanuts. Or that they must abandon their fertilized lawns and move to the inner city. Because they misunderstand the idea of community, many Christians don’t want to think about it at all. Let’s chat about the idea of community and make a list of the ways in which it can serve our lives well from a pastor’s perspective.

To avoid thinking about community simply because we misunderstand it will deprive us of one of God’s greatest gifts. The idea of community is, in a sense, from another world, a world very unlike our own. But it is neither from the world of communes in Vermont nor from the placid world of cookies and tea Christians share before they rush back to their isolated lives. Community is from the world as God wants it to be. It is the gift of a rich and challenging life together, one that we need and can receive with joy.

Christian community is simply sharing a common life in Christ. It moves us beyond the self-interested isolation of private lives and beyond the superficial social contacts that pass for "Christian fellowship" The biblical ideal of community challenges us instead to commit ourselves to life together as the people of God.

We know all too well that maturity takes time. We know less well that it also takes our sisters and brothers in Christ. It’s a process that is revealed in the “each other” language of the New Testament: Love one another, forgive each other, regard each other more highly than yourselves. Teach and correct each other, encourage each other, pray for each other, and bear each other’s burdens. Be friends with one another, kind, compassionate and generous in hospitality. Serve one another and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. This list just scratches the surface, but it is enough to remind us that we need the community of faith to grow up in Christ.

Christian community is the place of our continuing conversion. Its goal is that, individually and together, we should become mature, no longer knocked around by clever religious posers, but able to stand tall and straight, embodying the very “fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-16). Here are some statements for us all to think on, regarding the ways in which living in community can infuse our lives with meaning and joy. Think through each of the statements and test it against your own idea of community. The worth in this article is in the testing of your own community faith.

A Way to See Christ in Others:

A loving community shows us what Christ's love fells like.

• A SOURCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND GUIDANCE: A community shows us where we need to grow.

• A PLACE TO PRAY AND WORSHIP: Praying and worshipping together creates a workshop of love.

• A PLACE TO SERVE: Self-interest is stripped away when we live connected to others.

• A WITNESS TO THE WORLD: Christian communities testify to the love and counsel of the Lord.

The practice of Christian community, quite simply, makes the gospel a lived reality. It embodies a specific, personal way of life together in Christ. It strengthens us to live the life to which we are called; it conveys God’s life and power to the world at large. And it is necessary. It is not to be feared but welcomed. The risks don’t go beyond those it takes to follow Jesus. The reward is to enter into life as God intended it to be lived from the beginning. How could anyone pass that up? Bless you on your journey to true community.

Do you have a thought, idea or information that you would like to see in this section in an upcoming issue? Email Paul Hathcoat at phathcoat@wrcc.org.