Community

What does it mean to be a community?

Basically, a community means a society of individuals with shared rights, privileges, interests, and commitments.  Every community requires people.  And the people in the community must share a sense that their individuality is not an end to itself, but also involves ties to other individuals.

We are constantly struggling with the challenge of becoming part of a community.  It's so tempting to define life by individual attributes, values, preferences, privileges, and identities that often community doesn't happen. 

But we were created to live in community.  We were created for community with the rest of creation.  We've been placed in the world for community with other individuals.  We're not intended to define community by our sameness, but our "sharedness."  We're here to share the air, water, food, energy, wealth, power, and everything else with each other.  In other words, we're here to share life with each other as neighbors.

Jesus constantly worked to build community.  But he was often criticized for those efforts.  Some of his most bitter critics were religious traditionalists.  The critics shunned the inclusive idea of community Jesus taught and modeled.  He wasn't "conservative" enough.  He interacted with people the religious traditionalists considered "unclean."  Jesus hung around with poor, sick, disenfranchised, neglected, and shunned people.  And he said that how we treat those people is the defining statement of our character, and whether we desire community with God.

Do you think Jesus was right?  Or was he "too liberal" for you? 

Would that vision of community work in your circle of associates, your family, religious body, political group, or other associations?

And if the Jesus notion of community isn't your cup of tea, what's wrong with it?  What's bad about it?

Are you following the example of the religious traditionalists who criticized and shunned Jesus, or are you following the life of community that Jesus demonstrated and taught? 

Let's think about this.  Let's decide what community means.  Let's share our hopes and concerns about creating community.  Then let's build community, in every breath and heartbeat, together.

Grace and Peace to you.