Community.
It’s a word you hear a lot nowadays in Christian circles.
To me, it was just a hip new way the younger crowd described hanging out together or another word for church small groups. I also thought it was something only mega churches promoted to maintain control over their astronomical membership. I thought, “What’s with this ‘community’ thing and why are they always pushing small groups? Why don’t people just go to a smaller church?”
Recently I was invited to a women’s group gathering at a local church by a young lady I work with. There were no more than 20 women who showed and everyone brought a dish to share. A short message of encouragement sprinkled with Scripture was presented and we also had a time of prayer. Each of us shared a prayer request and being the introvert that I am, it was not easy for me to open up to these women whom I hardly knew. But for some reason I felt very comfortable with these ladies. It was more than a scheduled event or general ladies gathering. It was connecting. It was ditching pride and pulling off masks to be transparent in a healthy way. It was receiving wise counsel and heartfelt prayer. It was feeling one another’s pains and standing together through recent struggles. It was rejoicing in our testimonies and the truth of the Scriptures. The refreshing I felt that day made my eyes water.
Building community is necessary. It’s not just meeting for the sake of meeting. It’s meeting for the sake of serving and strengthening one another.
It’s not enough to hear a great message on Sunday and go straight to your next event. Bottom line, we need to be intentional about and committed to maintaining active and meaningful fellowship with one another as Christians. We need to get back to bearing one another’s burdens, exhorting each other in the Word and encouraging one another to persevere. We also need to celebrate together what God is doing in our lives.
I no longer view building community as just some trend that is currently sweeping the church world.
Building community is building a cushion. A place of support, comfort and rest.
He Created Me 