2 weeks Ago By By Charles Christian News-Press NOW
We were born into a unique situation. We have unique personalities and gifts. We are also born into unique families and communities.
Some families and communities are loving, caring and nurturing. Others are neglectful and even harmful. However, most either express thanks for the healthy community they were raised in or at least a longing for a kind and healthy community, knowing that many things in their life would have been different if only a healthy community were part of their experience.
The bottom line is that we all need community, and like it or not, we were created to function best in the context of community. Of course, when we are young, we cannot control our surroundings. We don’t choose the family into which we are born, and we have little or no say in terms of our community influence.
This doesn’t change the fact that we long for and we need a nurturing, caring community. That community can be big or small, but it is necessary. The biblical pattern is all about community.
The Bible’s description of creation begins with community. God’s work in the Old Testament is through a community. Jesus’s ministry in the New Testament begins with a community of 12 and then expands into what Jesus calls “the church” (see Matthew 16:18).
Community abounds. No community, not even the early communities mentioned in the Bible, is perfect. However, when we find a group of people who are dedicated to growing in their faith, to worshiping and serving God and to helping us do the same, we find a great gift.
This gift of community can be used by God in powerful ways to make us stronger, wiser and more resilient as we carry out God’s calling in our own life. So here are some good questions to ask about community. First, are you part of a consistent community of people who help nurture your faith, encourage you in your times of difficulty and encourage you in the goals to which God has called you? Second, are you making choices in your relationships with others that help foster a healthy faith-based community? If so, keep steadily growing together with those around you and continue being a healthy encouragement to them.
If not, then prayerfully consider new choices to connect with a congregation of people who can become that kind of community for you and for whom you can share loving accountability and encouragement. There’s no such thing as “Lone Ranger” faith. We all need community, and God has a community in mind if we are willing.
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