GG's PROBES

FXFC - 3 – Expositing the Dream… (ii)

COMMUNITY

As a general rule, being a Christ-follower requires living in relationships with others – both fellow Christ-followers and non-Christ-followers. A true Christ-follower has to seek to make an impact on the world in which they live – this is the fundamental basis of Christ’s Great Commission – and this cannot be done in isolation from that world. Yes, there have been aesthetics and hermits who have lived devout lives which have impacted the world, but they are the exception rather than the rule. And a true Christ-follower needs the support and encouragement of other like-minded pilgrims as each faces the trials and challenges of living a Christ-like life in a Christ-less world.

As Jim Peterson in “Lifestyle Evangelism” points out: “Look through the Epistles and observe how much of the content has to do with Christians relating to one another. We are told to be devoted to one another, to serve one another, to bear with one another in love, to forgive each other …” and climaxes with John’s words “… we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

But does the Bible mandate face-to-face community as the absolutely normative way of being community? I don’t believe so. While Paul was on his missionary journeys he still felt and acted as if he were very much part of the community in the various places where he had planted faith communities.

This begs the question as to what forms community. I would suggest four elements:

• Commonality of focus and purpose - accountability
• Commitment / Interdependence - trust
• Care – safe and compassionate
• Communication & Contact – openness & transparency

In the First Century world this was normally achieved in a small geographical area. Distances (small by today’s standards) were vast to the people of that era. But despite this a sense of community could still be maintained regardless of the distances. Paul’s letters make it obvious that he still felt himself to be part of the community of the churches that he had established in Asia Minor despite his geographical dis-location from them. Today’s communication and transportation technologies make even trans-global communities a reality. As the “Missional Church Report” points out, geographical territory is no longer a key base of commonality.

I would suggest that, as has been shown in the way technology has impacted the sense of community amongst scattered missionaries in places like Japan or North Thailand (to name two areas that I am particularly conversant with), new forms of communication and transportation technology have made network community feasible as a viable alternative (not replacement) to face-to-face community. And even in places where face-to-face community is readily feasible, the new technologies supplement face-to-face to build a network into a more cohesive and yet more elastic community than was previous possible.

Nest: WORSHIP

posted by Gordon Gray @ Thursday, February 03, 2005