Developing Community
In The Road Trip that Changed the World, Mark Sayers present three layers of connection: macro (national), communal (up to 300 people), and individual. In recent times, the macro and individual levels have grown, while the communal layer has shrunk due to individualism and expectations, and increased focus on choice and rights. Groups within the communal level are those that encourage volunteerism, participation, commitment, duty, and service. The result of the loss of this segment has been a reduction in these types of activities, and the possibility of individualized faith separate and apart from community. Because of the trend toward competition and self-advancement, community does not carry as much importance as status. One positive thing that is often seen with church leaders within the Church of Christ movement is that they are involved in outside community organizations, but there is room to improve the connection between this work and its relation to the church.
We do not see individualized, compartmentalized faith modeled in the New Testament. Rather, we see teachings to live sacrificially toward our neighbor, to share our material possessions with one another, and to consider the spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters above our own desires and needs. With the lack of trust in stories and leaders mentioned earlier, people can struggle with developing deep community. With over-connectedness via media and lack of “real” interactions with one another, we may not have developed a true understanding of community.
However, God is local—he is in the everyday. When Jesus taught about the kingdom, he did not use abstract religious language but used imagery directly from everyday lives of the people he was teaching. He taught using local examples and situations, and even when he healed, he used local materials. Luke 10 shows how Jesus sent the 70 into the daily lives of people to work alongside them, ministering as they went. Jesus was present and involved in the community’s concerns.
One example of this is in Luke 7, where Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd were walking towards Nain when they met up with a funeral procession. Jesus had every reason not to be involved as he had a crowd with him craving teaching and attention. However, when he saw the funeral procession he chose to become involved in the community. Another example from Jesus’s teaching is the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Here he demonstrates what Sedmak calls “a common-sense attitude” (Doing Local Theology, p. 28) as he encourages community involvement. Roxburgh and Boren write in their book Introducing the Missional Church, “Jesus came where people lived in their daily, ordinary stuff. He did not wait for the ideal religious time or setting and then ask people to come to Him. Instead, He went to them” (p. 94).
However, how often are we too busy to get involved? We do not take the time to listen to the needs of those around us, much less to take time to minister to the needs we see. Lesslie Newbigin says in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, “The only hermeneutic of the gospel is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it” (p. 227). But what happens if they never get a chance to see it? Changing this trajectory does not have to be something complicated. It can be something as simple, and as transformational, as creating a space for others.
In modern society people no longer know their neighbors and are suspicious of strangers. There is a deep desire for acceptance in our culture, even though hospitality is now considered countercultural. However, hospitality can create a culture that provides a place for members to find a place they feel welcome and loved. Christians needs to reclaim this practice. Hospitality has been as distorted as the word itself, and is often reduced to good food and conversation, while in neighborhoods it is quickly disappearing. Christians are to extend hospitality to everyone around us, while at the same time not forgetting that our home is not found in this world (Phil. 3:20). Christians are in an unusual position where we must offer hospitality, even though we may feel homeless in this world.
By engaging the community, Christians demonstrate another way of living and entering into difficult conversations. People are struggling with how to live in our modern society, and if Christians will take the time to understand the culture enough to figure out how to live out our Christianity among others we will be able to help them. Doing this allows entry into difficult conversations occurring among the people around us. It gives insight into complex problems, and hopefully allows for creative reflection. When a church understands the problems the community is facing, it can help develop answers and solutions. Through listening and learning, the church can help people lower their defenses and open up to God.
