I've been contemplating the idea of community for the last few weeks. Now I do not mean the coffee, I don't think my boss would be too happy about that, I mean the act of "togetherness". An idea that is pleasing to hear but so often does not get practiced enough. I figure everyone has written something about community, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence or even a sermon. So, I guess it's my turn to leak my thoughts onto paper - or well computer that is.
The term community can apply to locations, groups of interacting people, and yes even a brand of coffee. The type of community that I am concerned with has no limitations on geography or caffeine content. It is the community of believers in Jesus Christ. Our connecting factor is the Holy Spirit.
I think that too often, as Christians, we mistake "having fun together" with community. Being part of a community does not only mean that you have fun with other members but that you also grow in the nitty gritty of life with other members. It's vulnerablity, it is expressing needs, and it is showing compassion with others. This idea of "togetherness" may be a little foreign to a country that is becoming increasingly individualistic but is so important to the vitality of life. We cannot live without one another. I know it is something we have heard before... but think about it. When was the last time you thought about someone, was reminded of someone, prayed for someone and did not tell them? You might have been embarrassed, felt awkward, or thought they did not care if you told them. Friends, I'm telling you, everyone wants to know they are thought of in some sort of way or another. So, stop being afraid and pick up the phone, write a letter or just give a hug. It might mean the world to someone.
I have been blessed by my community lately and is probably what prompted me to write this blog, that or the fact that I haven't written in awhile and am a little rusty.
It is through community that:
1. My mom sent me a sermon that spoke truth to me and helped me stand up to the devil and his lies.
2. After a really bad week, Daniel Cason and Jason Howell came to take care of lawn work at my house without me asking. It was probably the best gift I could have gotten this year. They did not know I was having a bad week, they just saw a need and acted upon it. I cannot explain to you the joy I have every time I pull up to my house and see a freshly mowed yard. It is not the trim grass that makes me smile. It is the reminder that two friends sensed the urge of the Holy Spirit and were obedient to Him. It is a reminder that the Lord cares about the details of my life.
3. My friends pray for me, love me through the junk in my life and do not judge.
4. I feel the Lord's presence and handle on my life.
When I think about Community I cannot help but think of the friends and family in my life that the Lord has used to shape me into the woman I am and the woman I am becoming. C.S. Lewis explains it better by saying, "In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles [Williams] is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s [Tolkien's] reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald . . . In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another (Isaiah 6:3). The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have."
Lewis talks about the death of his friend Charles and the impact it has on his community but I think what he says is clear. We need each other. I can say with all honesty that like Lewis " in each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out." So, thank you for being part of my community, for being willing to go through the nitty gritty with me.
I say all this to encourage you to pick up the phone next time you think of someone, or just send a little message, or cut their grass... you never know what kind of week they are having or what kind of impact you can be in their life.
Laugh. Love. Live for Jesus
