Core Value #5 – Community
As our Core Value reads: “We struggle, but not alone. We search for meaning, but others walk the path alongside us. We partner with God to redeem creation, but we do so in conjunction with others. We sacrifice of ourselves, but must have others to whom we give. The New Testament is filled with teachings on how we are to live with ‘one another’. We laugh together and cry together. We celebrate together and grieve together. We were not meant to journey alone.”
What thoughts strike you as you read this?
In what ways have felt longings for what is described here?
How have you experienced community like this?
Can community be “had for the taking” or must one “buy in”?
I’d be interested in your thoughts.
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:41 pm
These aren’t my thoughts, but I felt that they applied.
Wash one another’s feet
Be at peace with each other
Love one another
Be devoted to one another
Honor one another above yourselves
Live in harmony with one another
Stop passing judgment on one another
Accept one another
Be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith
Instruct one another
When you come together to eat, wait for each other
Greet one another with a holy kiss
Have equal concern for each other
Agree with one another
Serve one another in love
Bearing with one another in love
Be kind and compassionate to one another
Carry each other’s burdens
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
Do not lie to each other
Submit to one another
Bear with each other
Forgive one another
Spur one another on toward love and good deeds
Teach and admonish one another
Encourage one another
Build each other up
Try to be kind to each other and everyone else
Do not slander one another
Don’t grumble against each other
Live in harmony with one another
Confess your sins to each other
Pray for each other
Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:08 am
I was listening to the radio today and they were having a program to raise money for a homeless shelter. They had some people on the show who had been homeless, and they shared their stories. This one man said that it is always lonely being homeless and another said that he had memories of when his family was together. Another said that someone invited him to the shelter because they said there was a warm meal, so he went… and indeed there was a warm meal and people there who cared. That meal made him feel as though there was hope and indeed there was. He came to know Jesus eventually.
So, I come to read the blog tonight and it makes me think of so many things… But these men in particular are an example of community and lack of it. I think that God so very much intended for us to live in community because we will die without it, either physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. There can be death in all of those areas. Community keeps us alive and God designed it that way.
These men and women who found themselves homeless are no different from you or me. They just had circumstances that allowed them to drift from any sense of community. Their cases are extreme, but what about those of us who have a roof over our heads… are we ever homeless inside? Do we shut people out and keep everything to ourselves? Do we run when conflict arises? Do we make everyone laugh so we never have to cry? Do we get in our cars and go home when the going gets tough?
Can community be hard for the taking? Or must one buy in? I believe we just have to start somewhere. There is no easy way, we just need to jump in and make mistakes… eventually, we will get the hang of trying and our mistakes turn into learning and then comes growth eventually.
There was one woman who shared on the radio today and she gave encouragement to others out there… she said that she had been in her own apartment for 2 years. My guess is that she jumped back in, with the help of a community who loved her and she is finding hope and success.
Are we any different? Can’t we love one another and help each other jump in? Can we encourage each other in our grief and loss? Can we stay and listen even when the silence is awkward? Can we stick it out when conflict arises and we really want to bolt?? In a perfect world, we could do all this and more. Fact is… we were created in a perfect world that’s been destroyed by sin and every part of our soul longs for that perfect community once again, whether we can admit it or not. As we long for heaven, and wait for our Savior to make it all right again, why not jump in? What do we have to lose??
His,
Cyndee
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:33 am
When I think of community I think of “togetherness” as “family” as a “unit of one accord and purpose”. As we approach the Thanksgiving season I have a heavy, yet grateful, heart for the “community” I once knew as my family and New Orleans friends.
As a result of the two hurricanes some of my family members are homeless others have scattered all over the country. We are no longer the “one unit …all together”. I am grateful that every member of my family and all of our friends who made up our “family community” survived the storms.Most have no homes or jobs to go back to.
Through the agonizing months since that August morning when everyone started leaving New Orleans and life as we knew it an amazing thing has happend.Our “community” has bonds that are stronger and more satisfing than previously. All the “stuff” that irritated us about each other really is no longer important. All the “material stuff” that is now crushed to the size of matchsticks really doesn’t matter any more. What matters is our “community” Through the best of times and worst of times we hung together and laughed and cried and talked and talked and talked some more about the really important issues. All of the superficiality of relationships is gone. Everyone was exposed and stood naked with nothing (no material possesions) We were all stripped down to what really matters …..our hearts and love for one another.We all bonded together for the purposes of survival and did whatever it took to keep each other going.
When I spent 32 hours alone in a hotel room as Hurricane Rita pounded my windows and I had been cut off from all of my family members ,in hotel rooms right next to me, yet we had not phone contact or TV.We couldn’t get to each other because of the 150 mile an hour winds We would have been blown over the balcony. I was alone as I have never been in my life. Community would have helped then.Yet I had a sense of community. When I realized that this storm was going to be severe I prepared myself for the fact I may not survive. I even told Chuck good bye, I loved him, and would see him in heaven. During those 32 hours I did have “community”…just me and God. That sense of His presence helped me get through those long hours. I realized God is sufficient yet he blessed me with family, friends, church family and neighbors so that I would experience a full sense of community. What a blessing!
As Pathways church continues to grow and mature may we never lose sight of our need for one another. We were not created to “go it alone.” Is it hard to reach out at times? You bet! However the blessings of living in “community” ( be it family or church or school etc etc) is worth it.Does it “cost” to be part of a community? Yes! Not just in financial ways ( that too) but in time, energy, effort, loss of our own comfort zone and sacrifice.(there is that word again)
May we at Pathways be a community without walls. May we enthusiastically embrace new members who choose to join our “community”
May we stand united together to live our lives so that our extended community and surrounding geographical areas sees Jesus in our Pathways community.
Someone asked me if I knew what Katrina meant. Katrina was the first hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast. That word means cleansing. Maybe there are some things that need cleansing in our lives that hinder us from fully entering into “community” with others. There certainly were in my life! Ask God to give you a Katrina,a cleansing, from anything blocking your desire to join in a community.
Blessings
Jan
November 24th, 2005 at 8:46 am
I couldn’t agree more with the above comments. However to me, the idea of community has been a hurtful thing. I’ll explain…
There are churches, or groups for that matter that pride themselves on the idea of community. They share the same ideals, same beliefs, they hold one another up and accountable, etc… However, because this “community” is so closely knit, they have closed themselves off to the rest of the hurting, needy world. It’s almost like a club to where you have your close group of people and any “newcomer” would disturb the dynamics of that group. This is when I believe the blessing of a community becomes a dangerous thing. Because then in becomes a “clique.”
As a community, a family, a group of people following our Savior in this broken world, we DO need to bind together as a group, we DO need to be lifting one another up, we DO need to be encouraging one another and holding eachother accountable…but we need to be continually reaching out for those people who may not have any other chance but to accept that same invitation from you.