“If one of them, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete. Together in the one mosaic, each little stone is indispensible and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God. That’s community, a fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.” — Henri Nouwen in Can You Drink The Cup?
You may remember that Dean shared this quote a few months ago. It’s perfect for us to revisit it this week. Sometimes in churches it is difficult to try to balance having community with each other while also trying to remember that the church is here to bless the world, not just ourselves. It sometimes seems like mission and community are in contstant tension.
Henri Nouwen helps us rethink that in this quote. He describes that true community happens when we make God visible in the world together. Genuine community happens in conjunction with mission. Do you agree or disagree with what he has to say here? What is a time when you have felt the greatest sense of connection with others?
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:33 pm
There must be an adhesive to hold this “mosaic” together or it falls apart, or fails. Is the adhesive God? And although the entire piece of art makes up “community”, there are still pieces that fit together intricately and compliment each other in color and/or contrast. This is personal interaction. Yes we are all little pieces but without “GodGlue”, we are just a frail puzzle destined to fail.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I also think that there is a very real sense that I don’t see where I fit into the mosaic when I am within it. I can only see the other “mosaic pieces” closest to me. There huge benefit to having someone hold up a mirror so that I can see the whole picture. It gives greater sense of purpose and understanding.
Seeing the whole picture is also painful, because I begin to grieve over missing pieces.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
“It sometimes seems like mission and community are in constant tension.” Are you saying mission = reaching out to non-believers and community = sharing with other Christ followers? If so, I would disagree completely. I think they both have the wrong focus. Our focus should be on God, not others or ourselves. When we remove ourselves from the picture our “mission” becomes serving and living a life for God which will naturally include caring for and sharing with others regardless of their connection to the kingdom. When we divide people by our judgment of their inclusion in the kingdom we are doing everyone a disservice. I hope to live in a way that my mission is to show God as completely and lovingly to someone who doesn’t know Christ yet as I do to my best friend, the person sitting next to me in church, or my pastor (all people I would assume are Christ followers).
I recently finished a book by Dave Burchett called Bring ‘Em Back Alive. It examined the Bible’s image of sheep and shepherds. The book called us all to be shepherds who care for those who have been wounded by the church, and to stop being those that wound. Not only are we missing those who have never been added to the mosaic, but the church is facing growing numbers of wounded people who are walking away uncared for and never returning. They are falling off of the mosaic and leaving holes that were once filled. “The only way for a sheep to be returned to the flock was for the shepherd to go find it and carry it back. I find it noteworthy that lost sheep weren’t expected to go looking for the shepherd; he went looking for the sheep. The lost sheep’s entire contribution to the situation was to wander off, get lost, and then lounge around waiting to be restored to the flock. Sheep need constant attention. More than any other domesticated animal, sheep that are not supervised and cared for have a tendency to wander off and die. Just like our woolly counterparts, Christians are a needy species. We tend to wander off (especially when we’re hurt), and we often don’t make any effort to return.”
Are we seeking to just build community with those in our immediate vicinity, or are we willing to reach out to both the unsaved, and also those wounded by the church and Christians, a group that might be even harder to bring back into the community and the mosiac?
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Blessings to all in the Pathways Community in health and spirit to you and your families.
The words are different but the meaning the same. “Mosaic pieces” are the same as the body of Christ. The genuine member of the body of Christ, through faith, reflects Jesus in thought (mind), action (heart) and works (bearing of fruit).
The motivation, which is the “glue” or ligaments, which hold this body together, is the love of God and the believer’s love for God. Foremost to the body of Christ, as it plainly reveals the picture of visibility to the world is love.
I like the word body better than mosaic pieces, as a completed piece merely tells of a picture, but to the body, an action of doing and changing. And every piece is working together in a complete and functional process, all-different, yet working together to the same cause and purpose (mission). And as a member of the body of Christ one participates in His will and by this no greater cause.
There could truly be no better picture to behold.