Theological Tuesdays: Community

Community in simple terms can be defined as: A group of people having common interests.

Divine Community: authentic community built around meaningful relationships characterized by oneness or unity with God and with one another. People want to feel important and a part of something. God created us to be relational people. God is relational! We were made to live in community with others.

Observations about the need for community:

• Americans are some of the busiest people in the world yet we are some of the loneliest. Why? Having access to people and a large number of acquaintances is not the problem. 21st Century Americans try their best to avoid people. We no longer build houses with front porches. Why the heck not? Why do we now have back decks with fences around so no one can see us? I don't like it. I'm gonna be a rebel on this one and sit on my front porch!
  
• We are a culture craving meaningful relationships. We need meaningful relationships instead of empty useless acquaintances.
• People who live life alone or in isolation lose perspective on life and what's really important. Our viewpoint becomes clouded and we usually see things as being worse or better than they really are.
  
• People who aren't part of a genuine community have a fear of intimacy. If you've never been transparent with people you'll always fear opening up to new people.
  
• People who aren't in mutual relationships are very selfish and self-centered. The most selfish people you know, are probably the one's who have the least amount of genuine friendships. Right or wrong?

Divine Community:

• In John 17 we see Jesus praying to the Father that the disciples and believers may "be one as we are one." God desires for us to experience oneness and community with each other. Divine community is hinged on one word: love. Why is love so important? Jesus says in John that because of our love for each other, "all men will know that you are my disciples." Our relationship with each other in the the body of Christ is the "criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful." Our community directly reflects our relationship with God.
• Authentic Community has these mutual qualities: ecouragement, meaningful relationships, love, accountability, support, honor, and sincerity to name a few.
  
• Real Community allows us to share the burden of living life. We "do life" together instead of alone. Which gazelle does the lion attack? The one that is alone, isolated and weak
  
• Our emotional needs are met in a Divine Community. We feel loved, wanted, and needed.
  
• Small-Groups are one of the best ways to truly experience Divine Community. Churches who operate on a Small Group format are the fastest growing churches in America.
  

In the perfect Garden of Eden before any sin entered the world, Adam was in oneness with God. He had a direct relationship with God and yet God still said, "It is not good for man to be alone." (Gen. 2:18) God knows that we need other people to get through life. We need Him but we also need others, that's why genuine community is so important!

An awesome book I'm reading on the topic of Small Groups that contains a lot of these ideas is "Creating Community" by Andy Stanley and Bill Willits. A definite must read on small-groups.