True Community

Weekly Update – July 7th, 2022

When we think about this longing for community that each one of us has, we must understand that it is not as simple as joining a church and living out our days in peace and harmony.  No, true community takes work.  It takes humility, repentance, intentionality and grace.  That is why many have sought to modify the true community of the church in order to make it easier.  The way that this happens is by centering the point of commonality on a preference or a want, rather than on the gospel.  Now, when we say gospel, we mean the message about how men and women can have eternal life through repenting of sin and believing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That message is the basis of the community found within the church.  Centering our community upon this message is contrary to the techniques of the world, but yet, it is God’s plan for his church.

Within the community of the church, we find a glimpse of what we were created to experience in our relationships with others before God.  Within this community we pray, love, serve, hurt and rejoice with others in the place that God has created for us and sets us in through Jesus Christ.  The problem is, we are still sinners.  Though we have been forgiven of our sin and redeemed from the wrath of God, we will not experience perfect holiness and righteousness until we reach eternity.  What that means is that the true community of the church becomes difficult to experience.  So what we tend to want to do is create our own little “sub-communities” within the church.  We create groups that will appeal to one liking and taste, services that will appeal to a preference, and programs that will reach others.  Now on the surface of it, there is nothing wrong with dividing up into smaller groups.  The problem comes when these little sub-communities become a substitute for the community that God has created us to experience with the church as a whole.

God has designed the whole church to function as a true community for us.  When this occurs, the church displays what Jamie Dunlop calls, a gospel-revealing community.  Within these types of communities, you have relationships that would not exist apart from the gospel.  In these communities personal needs and individualism are set aside and the corporate or the community is seen as more valuable.  In contrast, what is commonly considered community within the church is actually what Dunlop would call gospel-plus communities.  In these types of communities you have nearly every relationship founded on the gospel, plus something else. 

Here commonalities such as preferences, life stages, similar passions, etc. are the basis of community, but with a gospel theme attached to it.  The problem with these gospel-plus communities is not only do they not accomplish what God has determined to be the true community of the church, but they don’t show the world the supernatural power of God either.  A gospel-revealing community will show the world that the gospel is powerful enough to unite a group of sinners who have nothing else in common but Christ. 

Therefore, in order to promote gospel-revealing communities, we must live dependently upon the whole church.  This comes through most importantly prioritizing attendance and participation in the main gathering of the church.  It also comes through praying with the church, appreciating the differences of every member, and being thankful for the gifts that God has given to each person.  In addition, we should make every effort to know others outside of those with whom we have the most in common.  This will take humility, it will take repentance, and it will take grace.  But ultimately what we are striving for is something other-worldly and supernatural.  Plus we have the Holy Spirit as our guide.    

God has called each believer to a unique and supernatural community.  Therefore we should not only know what this community is, but how it functions and how we can rightly live within it. Ultimately we believe that God has given us each other to live within the community of the church, not only for our good, but for the display of his glory.

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson