Community

We’ve examined Brian Tome’s first two suggestions he considers are the essentials of the Christ-follower’s life: Bible and prayer. We now observe the third: “community.” Tome defines it as “people you love and who love you back – people you serve, deeply know, and celebrate… and people who give you all those things in return.

The most dynamic community I’ve ever experienced was in Dayton, Tennessee. My first wife, Ann, and I had moved there August of 1999. In three short months I lost her to a brain anuerysm. The small hospital in that little town didn’t have the wherewithal to treat her, so they placed her in an ambulance and raced to Chattanooga. When I arrived with my friend Dave, I was told by the neurosurgeon that I had a choice – do nothing and she’d be gone when they took her off life-support; or, do brain surgery and chances would be high that if she lived she would be a vegetable the rest of her life.

I checked with our children. We concurred that she wouldn’t want to live as a vegetable and that she was ready to meet her Creator. The decision was made. Life support until two of the children could get there. Dave and I sat in the waiting room and before long it seemed as though half the town of Dayton was there. No advice, just support. I think back with tears in my eyes to that event 10 years ago. I didn’t expect anything like I received – and after living there only 3 months.

Community. Romans 12 highllights the importance of community. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection,[e] and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Besides family, the basic community for the follower of Jesus is the church. The Bible says to “not forsake the assembling together, as is the habit of some, but to meet with one another and encourage one another (Hebrews 10:23-25). And the basic community within the church is small groups. Four to twelve people who meet regularly, sharing, praying for and encouraging each other. Possibly studying Scripture together. Living life authentically with each other. That is where church really happens.

Tome says the characteristics of a healthy church are: teaching of the Bible, belief in the power of prayer, doing life with one another, has a good reputation in the community, and grows numerically. As we invest our lives in our churches, contributing and receiving, we then look to building individual relationships.

It has been said that we become like the books we read and the people with whom we associate. Friendships will either increase or decrease our passion for living godly lives.

One way to evaluate friendships is to be aware of very draining people (VDPs). Tome lists these qualities of a VDP and asks the question, “Are you a VDP?
 Do people regularly abandon me as a friend?
 Do I find that people quite often don’t return my phone calls promptly – or don’t return them at all?
 Do I speak more than I listen?
 Do my conversations tend to drift toward what is wrong with the world, life, and other people?
 Do I consider conversations “wasted” unless my agenda or I myself am the main topic of the conversation?
 Is it rare for me to laugh in my conversations with people?

These are important questions to ask yourself within the context of community – for your own evaluation and for insight into friendships.
I’ve lived in every section of the USA except the northeast. Every part of the country has strong qualities – positive and negative. However, one constant that has made each location special is people. A loving community.

Tomorrow's post wraps it up with the word "mission."