I’ve been involved in some interesting interaction lately in response to a blog post I wrote about how Lucado’s new Fearless book is falling short. If you haven’t read that article, yet, I suggest you take a few minutes and check it out – don’t forget to read the comments.
As you can see, some readers took issue with the following statement that I made:
“Because when the Body of Christ has your back, what is there to fear?”
One reader commented that this statement should have read “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom 8:31) and another said, “You’re talking humanism, Faith and/or trust in God is what builds strong communities. It is when communities start drifting from faith or trust in God exclusively that they fail.”
Community, it seems, is controversial.
While part of me is not all that surprised given the fact that we are pretty used to the whole rugged individuality thing in America, another part of me is very surprised. In case you haven’t noticed, “community” is a very popular buzzword in Christian circles right now. Churches are overhauling their entire programming method to make it more community focused. Community was a major motivator in the decision to sell our building a few years ago. Community is so important, that without having some way to build it, churches and other Christian ventures are folding. That’s why, almost without exception, any Christian online publication will have a forum where readers can connect or, at the very least, an area where readers can comment on articles and interact that way.
So why was what I said so controversial?
Perhaps because for all of our talk about community and how every Christian should be in it, we don’t actually think it is very important. Don’t believe me? Head over to the ECPA’s list of the Top 50 Best-Selling Christian books – do you see any books that have either community in the title or that are primarily focused on community? Tell me, if community is so important, why is it that nobody is reading about it?
Community Assaults Our Precious Individuality
Whether we like it or not, as Americans we are utterly immersed in an environment where individuality reigns supreme. Like fish in water, we don’t even know we are in it, we just know that’s the way it has always been. Or, if we do recognize our immersion, we are unable or unwilling to do much of anything about it. It isn’t hard to see why: community assaults our individuality. Community demands that we put the needs and preferences of the group above our own. We don’t like that. In fact, we feel like that is a violation of our God-given rights.
Community Exposes Our Selfishness
Yep. We’re selfish. That’s old news. What’s also old news is that we try to pretend otherwise. We do it because we know that Christians aren’t supposed to be selfish. So we spend time and energy trying to convince ourselves and others that we aren’t really selfish. We tithe and even sponsor a kid or two through Compassion International. Selfish people don’t do that…right? Maybe. But selfish people do leave churches because they don’t like the style of music or preaching. Selfish people also get upset when their idea isn’t valued by others as much as they think it should be. Selfish people find it offensive when a friend or loved one calls them out on an area where they need to grow. Feeling uncomfortable yet?
Community Is Surprisingly Difficult
We often paint community like it’s a trip to Disneyland: fun with exciting new experiences, lots of laughs, and maybe even some inspiration here and there. But the truth is that community is often like a trip to a farm: lots of hard work, sometimes pretty boring, and there’s a real possibility that you will get hurt. When many of us find out that community isn’t all sunshine and butterflies we’re content to live with our individualism instead.
Community Forbids Us to Retreat to a “Me and Jesus” Mindset
Jesus did not come to save you. Read it again…and slowly. Jesus…did…not…come…to…save…you. Jesus came to save us. You, as an individual, are not God’s goal. We, as his Bride, are. You cannot change the world. We, as the Body of Christ, can. It doesn’t take much to destroy you, but Satan can send his whole army and we will not be destroyed.
What other reasons can you think of that make community so controversial?
Why do we automatically read, “If God is for us, who is against us?” as “If God is for [me], who is against [me]?”?
You’re right. Community is hard, but even harder when people believe the church community must be the game of *follow the leader*, and no one else assumes the responsibility of fostering personal relationships that are the building blocks of community.
We have some personal relationships, but the closest thing to community we experience is cliques.
By: John Ramsey on October 15, 2009
at 2:45 PM
Heh…good question! I wonder that same thing all the time. I think it goes back to that whole fish-in-the-water thing. When we read verses like that, our default way to apply it is individually – what other option is there? The entirety of our Christian faith is built around the individual: personal devotions, personal prayer time, personal Bible reading, personal relationship – we could replace “personal” with “individual” and it wouldn’t change the reality of what’s going on at all.
By: Ken Eastburn on October 15, 2009
at 2:53 PM
I don’t disagree about community, but perhaps people see it in one scripture and extend it to others.
In Galatians 2:20 for example, Paul does say that Jesus died “for me”.
On a separate subject, I have a friend who translated (without interpreting) the entire New Testament directly from the Greek manuscripts, and notes in his translation all of the instances where “you” and “your” are plural. In Greek, there is a separate plural word for each. It really does help with understanding when reading it.
By: Mark Isherwood on October 15, 2009
at 8:27 PM
As proof that community is indeed controversial, I offer you this response: http://5ptsalt.com/2009/10/15/house-church-jesus-did-not-come-to-save-you-huh/
The idea that Jesus came to save a community is referred to as “garbage.”
By: Ken Eastburn on October 15, 2009
at 9:09 PM
I think that when people see a headline that challenges their comfort zone, they tend to rebel against it instead of reading it through and attempting to understand it.
By: Mark Isherwood on October 15, 2009
at 9:31 PM
When Christianity was new, there was one church in each community, one body of Christ, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6
Now we are so full of denominations, doctrines and separation, this is not the church it once was.
I was speaking to my wife about this the other night, in the book of Acts, most reports are of people being saved in numbers. When someone “believed”, then they and their whole household were saved and baptized immediately.
By: Mark Isherwood on October 15, 2009
at 9:30 PM
Thanks for the great comment. Our challenge in our culture is that we are so individual focused. In the Bible we see God focusing on community in so many examples. In Acts there are powerful examples of this.
My challenge to others through this post is not to ignore our individual spiritual growth or maturity in Christ, but it is to say that we need to look at our faith through a lens of community.
By: Ken Eastburn on October 15, 2009
at 10:23 PM
Ken, what do you mean by “lens of community”? I’m having a difficult time understanding your point of view.
From my understanding, you want people to realize that the individual’s spiritual growth should come first then the community’s? I’ve been wary whenever someone starts talking about community since people can fall into traps if they don’t have a solid foundation in Christ.
Without going into details your words touch on many problems my church has foster or ignore for good or bad.
I don’t have the answers. Only God has them and I’m trying to listen.
By: Daniel on October 16, 2009
at 3:45 AM
Thanks for your humble approach and your question. I think we are wanting to counter a complete focus on the individual at the expense of community. But I would agree that the other extreme is no good as well. The fullness of who we are in Christ is an understanding of how God sees us as an individual and how He sees us in community. That is an exciting idea that is worth thinking about!
By: Ken Eastburn on October 16, 2009
at 2:24 PM
I am disappointed by the dishonesty of this post, Ken. Nowhere in my previous comments did I say, or even imply, that community is not important.
I objected, quite clearly I think, to Christians putting their trust in that community instead of in God. You have deliberately misconstrued my statements to serve your own agenda.
Apparently, your community doesn’t require honesty.
By: akaGaGa on October 16, 2009
at 12:55 PM
Sorry for the miscommunication. The point was that there are many perspectives and this issue is still one that is a challenge for us as Christians today. I did not mean lump you in with those who don’t believe community is important. Thanks for sharing and for the honest response. Honesty is very important and I look forward to the continued dialogue about these important issues.
By: Ken Eastburn on October 16, 2009
at 2:28 PM
Akagaga,
I didn’t see any misconstruction at all. Your original objection was without base in the first place – Ken obviously wasn’t saying that we should put our trust in community instead of in God – but I think that was kind of his point with this post: When you talk about community, there are those, like yourself, who throw up objections because of some irrational fear that when you enter into community it means you are going to lose faith in God.
Methinks that’s why he included the “Me and Jesus” point.
By: Jesse on October 16, 2009
at 3:43 PM
Indeed, the community aspect is missing from many congregations and they don’t realize it. After all, if one goes to “big group” once a week (maybe twice in one day), helps with programs once a week, and maybe have small group and Sunday School once a week. That’s a lot of time with Christians, however, the weekly small group is likely the closest to “community” because it’s likely the easiest time to be relaxed…to be real…to not be on a timetable and confined to a program.
It’s also likely that the best chance to show love to a neighbor and/or get to know them is via a small group at a host home.
Community is where love grows.
By: Rick Garner on December 5, 2009
at 3:21 PM
[...] what was one of my most controversial posts, I talked about The Controversy of Community (ironic, isn’t it?) on October 15th. The post was born out of interaction I had with some folks [...]
By: Top 10 Comments of 2009 « A House Church Blog on January 26, 2010
at 8:34 AM