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There
are many different types of communities. This page is just a
quick summary of a few of the reasons this topic is of interest to
me. I'd like to hear your reasons and ideas too so please
share them. Note that most of the text on this page is taken from
other articles already linked on this web site.
A) We Christians
are here to glorify the Father (Isaiah 43:7). We do that best by becoming like
Jesus (Rom 8:29, 2 Cor 3:18). Our top New Year's resolution every year should be to
become more like Jesus.
B) We all need to help
each other become more like Jesus (Heb 10:24-25), and living in community seems a
great way to do this. I think this article sums it up well:
http://www.FollowersOfJesus.cc/doing_life_together.htm
* Outdo one another in showing honor (Rom. 12:10)
* Live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16)
* Admonish one another (Rom. 15:14)
* Greet one another with a holy kiss (Rom. 16:16)
* Wait for one another (1 Cor. 11:33)
* Have the same care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25)
* Be servants of one another (Gal. 5:13)
* Bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2)
* Comfort one another (1 Thess. 5:11)
* Build one another up (1 Thess. 5:11)
* Be at peace with one another (1 Thess. 5:13)
* Do good to one another (1 Thess. 5:15)
* Put up with one another in love (Eph. 4:2)
* Be kind and compassionate to one another (Eph. 4:32)
* Submit to one another (Eph. 5:21)
* Forgive one another (Col. 3:13)
* Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
* Pray for one another (James 5:16)
* Love one another from the heart (1 Pet. 1:22)
* Be hospitable to one another (1 Pet. 4:9)
* Meet one another with humility (1 Pet. 5:5)
How can we fulfill the above without the things below?
Time: Perhaps the first fruit of commitment is time.
Space: As important as time is, so is sharing space.
Resources: Another mark of life together is being open-handed with the
excess that we have.
Accountability: Now all of this—be it our time, our space, our
resources—demands a great deal of trust.
C)
When we live in community as above, especially when not being isolated,
it is the best example of the Kingdom of God (which is what Jesus told
us to preach about). Our love and good works will witness to our
neighbors (John 13:35, Matt 5:16). There are extracts from two
articles below that show this.
http://www.intervarsity.org/slj/article/2561
God has created a new language of witness, a language that is far more
powerful than words-the language of community:
"All the believers were together and had everything in common.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They
broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the
Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:44-47).
God's new language was embodied in a community of disciples who
demonstrated the truth of the gospel they were proclaiming. The early
Christians did not just have a story to tell, they were the story being
told.
How it looked in an inner-city neighborhood of Grand Rapids several
years ago:
http://kingdomofgodlife.blogspot.com/2005/11/practical-daily-life-in-kingdom-of-god_23.html
“…better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away” (Proverbs 27:10).
A dear Christian brother or sister who lives far away is sometimes less
valuable than a next-door neighbor who isn’t even a believer. It’s true
if your car breaks down, if you need to borrow a shovel, or if you need
a couple eggs to complete a recipe. It’s also true in a multitude of
other ways.
The believers in our fellowship have deliberately positioned themselves
to be more valuable to each other by deciding to live close to each
other. For some that meant selling their home and moving. For others it
meant renting a place closer to other believers. Rather than a 15 or 20
minute drive separating us, we would much rather have a one and a half
minute walk!
...
In the past days and weeks believers have shown up at my door to borrow
shovels, rakes, a wheelbarrow, and some other things that I can’t
remember. How is that “spiritual”? Well, whenever two or three believers
who are dedicated to conforming to Christ and helping each other conform
to Christ…whenever such people can see each other or interact it is a
great opportunity to share a Scripture, a thought, or a prayer… or even
just share a shovel. Random acts of kindness have been known to increase
love between people. When Jesus says to “love one another” and that “all
men will know you are my disciples when they see you love each other” he
was referring to everyday life. I don’t think he was meaning that
unbelievers would say, “wow, look at how those Christians love each
other by going to that building together every week!” So, as we look to
increase in love for each other and to show the world, random acts of
kindness toward one another is a big deal.
About a week ago, a neighbor who is not a part of our church called and
asked if she could borrow some vanilla. We (the believers here) were
right in the middle of sharing life together. My wife was attending to
one of our children and I was in the middle of a conversation with a
couple of brothers. A sister in the Lord was available and she brought
the vanilla over to the neighbor’s house. What did this plant in the
mind of my neighbor? It was unexpected that someone other than a member
of my “family” would bring the vanilla over…but maybe it will help
reveal what Spiritual Family is all about.
A couple weeks ago, a brother borrowed my car. (It was very handy since
he lives a block and a half away!) He noticed that my oil needed to be
changed probably because he saw the little reminder sticker that the oil
change place put on the upper left corner of my window. He brought the
car back with an oil change and some information about something that
the mechanic said could be wrong. Another bonding experience from an
“everyday” situation. It was more bonding that sitting in a church pew
and looking at him across the room. :-) Other times, my car has been
returned having been professionally vacuumed!
In the last few weeks several people have needed to use our washing
machine for various reasons. These were great opportunities to share and
also to be “inconvenienced” in a very minor way, learning to put others
before ourselves.
One day our neighbors stopped by. (Different neighbors than those I
mentioned earlier, but they aren’t a part of our church either.) When
they showed up, someone from our church was just leaving. We talked with
them for a few minutes and in walked a couple from the church. They
asked if we could pray about a trip they were going to take to China.
This made quite an impression on the neighbors who noticed that we do
more than just “go to church” together… there is something happening
that is unlike anything they’ve seen…
A couple days ago I was stapling up insulation in the walls of a
bathroom we are adding to our home. (A brother had already framed the
walls for me; another had done the plumbing; another had done the
electric; and another had done the heating.) I ran out of staples. Just
then a brother named Andy knocked on the door and asked to borrow our
rake, but someone else had already borrowed it! So he left in search of
another rake. Meanwhile I called a different brother named Ryan and
asked if he had any staples for a staple gun. Ryan informed me that he
had staples (but no gun) and that Andy had just shown up looking for a
rake. Andy got several rakes and Ryan sent the staples with Andy, who
hand-delivered them to me. My wife and children ended up going with Andy
and helping with raking, while I finished my project.
The other day, I was getting my 2 year old in the car to go to Home
Depot. I thought, “This would be a much nicer trip if I had someone to
go with me.” So, I called a brother (who lives down the street) and he
came over with his son and we all went to Home Depot. It allowed us to
observe each others children and offer meaningful input into father-son
relationships and child-training. We also opened our hearts to each
other on some topics of concern. It was a good time.
A week and a half ago, I had a work-related conference to go to in
Chicago, on a Friday. A brother, Joshua, who had the day off graciously
volunteered to go with me to keep me company and to fellowship. Another
brother, Scott, arranged so that he could have the day off! The day
before we were to leave, a dear believer from Missouri called and asked
us to come for the weekend: they needed some help with a very serious
spiritual matter. God worked through several brothers (7 I think) to
show us that Joshua shouldn’t go afterall, but that another brother
named Chris should go. And all of us needed to take Monday off of work.
So, we all spent the day driving about 3 and a half hours to Chicago.
And then another 6 down to Missouri later that evening.
OK, this is getting a little long. Sprinkled in the midst of all this we
have had prayer, Scriptures, a few songs, help with child-raising, etc,
etc. The other believers would each have their own stories to tell. And
if I sat here longer, I would have more to tell as well.
At the very least, strings of affection have been tied in each
situation. In some situations, unbelievers have watched. In others, we
got to speak truth and life into each other’s lives. We see each other
interacting with spouses and children. We can offer advice and speak
about things that we can see, but individuals may have missed. Whatever
the case may be, may God receive glory in his Church.
D) There are many other reasons. Here are just a few:
Many hands make light work - improved efficiency allows less
"bread labor" and more time serving others as well as more time for
recreation and study.
Better prepared to help each other if hard times come upon us in the future.
And there are probably a lot more benefits when there are urban communities in close regular contact with rural communities.
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