Community Matters
God didn’t make just one human. He made a lot, and because there are multiple people in existence, it seems pretty important.
Here are a few reasons why community may be necessary:
God saw that people shouldn’t live all on their own, they need others to survive and thrive.
Because we have a need for others, a life lived in an intentional community is healthy and necessary.
The fact that there are other people aside from ourselves is a good reminder that we really don’t have everything figured out and we need others to help us on life's journey.
Is that an exhaustive list? No. But one that shows intentionality that we have the opportunity to display? Absolutely.
I lived in a 24/7 community for 6 months. It wasn’t always my favorite, especially sharing a room with 2 other girls, and a whole house with 18. But that season taught me a lot. It taught me how to have a healthy community with others, and also the easy pitfalls of unhealthy codependency that can be built in that kind of community.
One pitfall of community, especially in the ultra-conservative church circles, is “perfection.” The need to look, be, and act as close to perfection as humanly possible. Boy, have I seen this more often than not in my early childhood and into my adolescence.
Does anyone else want to punch someone in the face when they clearly are using Christian lingo and making themselves look better than everyone else to help them look more “Christian”?
Just me? Okay.
Well, people like this have been the constant fire under my rear that spurs me to be as authentic and frank about my relationship with Jesus.
Observing these types of individuals has caused me to cherish my real, raw, authentic relationships with people who will share the hard, uncomfortable, and often ugly things they are facing in their lives. These are people that I am utterly thankful for and honored to be a part of their lives. The joy that comes from community with these individuals is a joy that can only come from living out intentional human design from the Lord.
The first place we see in scripture that God saw the need for there to be more than one person is in the account of the creation of man.
We see in Genesis 2 that God placed man (Adam) in the Garden of Eden to care for it and the animals he had created. But then God sees that Adam needed company that could speak and work with him in the garden.
“The Lord God said, “It is not food for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
God knew Adam needed company and companionship, so Eve was made.
The book of Hebrews has a straightforward exhortation about importance of being intentional in the community you are a part of:
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
There is so much value in consistently meeting with people you can build honest and authentic relationships with. We need others in our lives to encourage us, to build us up, just as much as WE need to speak those things over others. Being in community is not just so we can feel better, but so that we can come alongside others to love them well and encourage and build them up.
Lastly, because God was so specific in creating more than just one person, we need to remember that we should not be able to go through this life on our own. We were created to commune with God and others, and not to rely on our own abilities.
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
If you have been a Christian for a long time you have heard this verse many times. But I am learning, that just because we hear something a lot doesn’t mean we understand it or believe it.
My greatest reminder from that verse at the moment is that God created each one of us uniquely, and for specific purposes. Together we can care for one another and love each other in so many ways, that without each other we would never experience.
Maybe you have come across too many people in your life that fit the description of the person who always has the “right thing to say”. Don’t let that stop you from finding out who God is on your own.
We need each other. We need other people to teach us what they are learning about God, be honest about what they are struggling with, and be transparent about how they feel about God! We need those people around us and we need to be those people.
The only way to find those individuals is to be them, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring the honest, transparent, and truth-wrestling believers together.
Don’t ever be afraid to be honest. God is never afraid or ashamed of what is on your mind that you struggle with. He is always waiting with open arms to answer your questions or bring others into your life who will.
Step into community, and do it imperfectly! But step out, be courageous, and pour into others and be poured into.
Cheers.
