Why Church? Why Community?

Community is only and always what people are:  beautiful   and   broken   and   utterly redeemable.

I was asked recently at one of my medical intake interviews, "Do you have a support system?" I almost laughed. I feel I have the best people in the world around me, both near and far. I could not imagine a better "band of brothers and sisters" to walk side by side with through the joys and storms of this life. Christian community is something I feel so strongly about and speak about often. So did Jesus. So when Audrey and Christina sent me the email below, I knew I had to share it with you. I've changed it a little bit for the sake of clarity and space. It was titled: 15 Reasons Why Community is Important....(Even if You've Been Hurt) 1. Christ is the head of the Body and He is Love; both can only exist in community.   2. God's people are given the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:16-21) Reconciliation begins first in our homes, then down the street, in this pew, around the corner, in our community - or else we are ministers of misrepresentation. 3. It is when you reach out in community that your gifts can be used in the Kingdom.  4. Joining and participating in just one group or community this year cuts your odds of dying in half over the next year.   5. Community is only and always what people are: beautiful and broken and utterly redeemable. 6. There are no I-slands in the Kingdom, only His-lands. The notion of a lone ranger is purely bad fiction.  7. The wonder of this: "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16)  We are all the "living stones" of the temple of the Holy Spirit. But if one stone withdraws from the other stones....? The "you" in 1 Corinthians is plural. Y'all together are the temple of the Holy Spirit; we are a temple of the Holy Spirit together - in community. We need each other, all of us. And believing is about belonging to a community.  8. 2000 years of Christianity is founded on the breathtaking "living organism" called community.  It's when we are given in community that we collectively live it before the world and God is among us.  9. Community is healthy for us. Those with strong social connections but poor health habits are just as healthy as those with good health habits but weak social connections.   10. There are brothers and sisters in Christ who have died for gathering together. How could we neglect so great a privilege?  11. "Door" in Hebrew, means generation. May we be the next generation to go next door - the generation who knows who lives next door, what they need next door, how they ache next door. The Next Christians need to be the generation of Next Door Christians.  12. The Christian life is the compassionate, crucified, cruci-formed life - not the comfortable life. Community is how God shapes his children into the image of Christ.   13. We love Him enough to meet Him where He is. Jesus once said that where "...two or three are gathered in my name, there am I ..." 14. Love is a tree and each person a branch. And a pile of cut off branches doesn't make a tree. Love can only be comprehended in community.  15. Every chance I have to love imperfect people is another chance to perfect God's love in me. This is a way to let your love soar. Some good words of wisdom to think about, I'd say. Have a great week living in community with imperfect people.....like me! Greg