What the heck is community anyways, for the most part American's today would define community as a group of people in the same neighborhood or more specifically that live the same lifestyle (ie. the Christian community, the LGBT community, the retirement community, etc.). I think the definition we use for a group of people living the same lifestyle is a good start to the definition, there is so much more there though. A community is not simply a bunch of individuals that agree on some similar moral and lifestyle choices. A true community is dependent on one another for health, survival, fellowship, encouragement, and correction. The true community shares life in every aspect; they are tight-knit, everyone knows everyone else in an intimate way.I want to see the Kingdom of God lived out on this earth, it is possible to listen to His heart and respond. We must be willing to live outside of convenience and isolation that this world and this nation so heavily promote. I am so guilty of the convenient, self-sufficient, self-satisfying, and isolated lifestyle. We must commit to being wholly and intentionally focused on Him and His Kingdom on a continual basis.
"How do we make this thing we do once a week a lifestyle?" -Walter A. Miles
In our American, capitalist, marketing mindsets we all see 100 ways to promote and generate attendance and revenue. Money and bodies are not the goal though. I would much rather see us stay at three community homes and 20 people, and maintain our vision and focus on Him alone. I don't want to see a new worldwide ministry established out of the strength and power of our flesh. May the Lord create community among His people and His bride, and may that look uniquely different and yet unifying. The only way we will ever see this thing become a lifestyle is to get people focused on the one thing that we all are dependent upon, Jesus Christ and His redeeming love. The only reason you can get 10-50 people who are so alarmingly different to gather together every single week is because we have one focus, Jesus and His Kingdom.
As soon as we decide to stray from being organic and intentional we lose focus on Him and we lose the glue that made this community. We cannot do this under our own strength, it's simply not possible. The fact is we all need every single person in this community for different and unique reasons and if we lose focus we lose people and we no longer have all of the puzzle pieces. I know that I would never choose to spend my time around these people on an individual basis if it was not for Him and His love. My flesh doesn't know what I truly need, it only knows selfishness, sin, and individualism. When we look into His eyes, He reflects the world around us in such a light that we are able to see our own desperate state of need.
We don't need more meetings or events, we need more Jesus; the more of Jesus we have the more this community will grow, flourish, thrive, maintain, and be strengthened. We are building one big house where our whole family can live and if we don't make Jesus that firm foundation to begin with then the walls begin to sag and fall. If we expand out of our own strength we are only building on the sand of the world, we must wait for Him to first expand our foundation and lay the ground work.
Patience, perseverance, obedience, and focus will be the keys to seeing His vision and promise made reality in and through our lives and our community.
So, start praying, keep praying. Get in the Word, stay in the Word. Meet Him in the place of worship, stay in the place of worship.
Easier said than done, but totally possible with Him alone.
