Community/church

Philippians 2:4, “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Henri Nouwen had this to say about “community.” He said, “The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation, and romantic naiveté. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own”

Take this in context of what we describe as church. Church being the gathering of like believers, under a common banner, adhering to common rules in the form of doctrine, and stirred by a common culture manifest in an edifice and worship style. To the degree that this church, this community, brings positive value, then it is of value to the real Church.

The real Church being the body of Christ, not bound by buildings, style, or doctrine - - but the collection of all of Christianity in the bond of Christ.

In this vain denominations are communities that though physically isolated are still part of the larger Church.

All of which seems commonsensical, and yet God has given me a disproportionate number of friends who could be described as ex-ministers. Men and women of God who have given up on the “church” altogether. For them I struggle to articulate the value of “church” beyond the schemes and plans of men. A church, as a community, has value to the larger kingdom of God, even in the midst of political infighting, possible mismanagement, and the bureaucratic nightmares.

Why do we judge our churches based on their influence? Why are churches judged as too entertaining, too watered down, too charismatic, or not charismatic enough? Why do we judge churches as being hot or cold or something in between? How many have judged a church as being all about the money? On the contrary we should judge the church as, is this a community I belong to? Is this a community God is calling me to be a part of?

Reality is a church is nothing more than a community, and the personality reflected is a common personality amongst those that call it their community. If what Henri Nouwen says is correct. That “community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own.” The what better place to practice not being offended, and putting someone else’s interest ahead of ours than in a church community? Do the degree we do this as individuals, then the community and the body of Christ as a whole benefit.

Church in so much as it is community serves an eternal purpose in the formation of the Real Church/The Body of Christ. Community, and therefore church is a practice grounds for love.

Let this be an encouragement to participate in the community that is your local church. They need you as much as you need them.