We all want to belong to a healthy and growing community. In a vibrant church community, Christ is confessed, loved, obeyed, adored, experienced, and shared among the members, and such a life together centered on the gospel always leads to inner transformation and growth. But how many of us can testify that it is what we personally experience on an ongoing basis? One of the greatest challenges that we encounter in our life together as a faith community of Christ is the influence of excessive individualism in our culture. It is as prevalent and saturating as the air that we breathe every day, and none of us is exempt. This has also impacted our view of the gospel. For example, our emphasis on each individual’s relationship with Jesus has helped us to resist the temptation to succumb to the secular culture of our times. This also helps us to put Jesus as a priority in our personal lives. At the same time, this has made the gospel something that no longer includes community. When Jesus came to earth, he preached the good news of the kingdom of God (Mk 1:15) – a community. He formed that community by calling the Twelve disciples (and many women – see Lk 8:1-3) to follow him. At Pentecost, this expanded to a church community of many thousands (Acts 2), which has continued to grow and expand for the past two millennia. In short, from the Bible, we see that community was never a “second thought” in the message of the gospel. However, we often forget who we are in a community because we see ourselves primarily as individuals. But God created us for community, and Christ redeemed us for community. How can we reform our view of community in light of this gospel truth?
We should ask a fundamental question: Why is a Christian community central to our faith and life? We should examine whether our community is healthy and genuinely centered on the gospel. We hope to restore our sense of community as Christ-followers and have a deeper experience of inner transformation that results from it.
- Enseignant: Steve Stasinos