The Foundation and Power of Community
As a church, we feel called to be a multiplying community of people transformed by the Gospel, devoted to God's Word, committed in community, and relentless in prayer UNTIL our families, neighbors, city, and world know that Jesus is true hope.
We believe that this idea of multiplying is birthed out of our faithfulness to the four values mentioned in the above statement:
We value Gospel Transformation, not church attendance.
We value living devoted to God's Word.
We value living committed in community.
We value living relentless in prayer.
If this is what we value, we want to dive into what these values mean and what they look like in the everyday stuff of life. So, let's start with commitment in community.
In the prayer of Jesus in John 17, he says, 20 "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
His prayer and vision for how the church would function both then and today was that we live committed in community and experiencing oneness. As I consider our world today and the idea of unity, this is a very lofty prayer, even coming from Jesus.
But, because Jesus is the one praying it, we need to receive it as more than just a wish, but more in line with a command. If this is what Jesus wants, shouldn't we seek to prioritize it in our lives?
It makes sense to understand Jesus' why for community. He says in verse 21 above, "So that the world may believe that you have sent me." Jesus' why is all about redemption. Consider this: our oneness, the way we live in community, determines our effectiveness in God's mission. My ability to live nonretaliatory and lean into forgiveness is essential to the Gospel taking root in our culture.
Because of Jesus, you matter, which means the way we engage community, navigate conflict (because it will happen), and the way we fight for love and unity also matters and directly impacts the church's effectiveness in displaying the true hope of Jesus.
I saw a video by Timothy Keller sharing the five significant marks of the Christian community during the Roman times that empowered their ability to live on mission. Here they are:
They were the most Multi-Ethnic/Racial community the world had ever seen.
They cared for the poor, not only for their own poor but also everybody else's. They were highly generous.
They were nonretaliatory and Forgiving - in a shame and honor culture where vengeance was everything (you do this to me, I do this to you), Christians wouldn't attack; they would forgive.
They valued human life and had no gradations of human value. Abortion did exist, but it wasn't as common because it was so dangerous. Instead, they would discard the baby in the trash after birth (infanticide). Christians valued life so comprehensively that they would take these babies in and raise them as their own.
In a world where sex was seen as an appetite and for self-gratification, men (even those who were married) had the cultural right to have sex with whoever they wanted (men, women, boys, or girls) and even require it of those of lower social status. Christians saw sex as self-giving, stating that you can only have sex with someone whom you have given your entire life.
Notice this with me: how they lived in unity and acted out their values together drew a culture's attention to their differences. This became the engine behind the missionary movement that led Paul into Europe and propelled the Gospel worldwide for us to engage with today!
Do you see the similarities between what the church in Rome faced and what we face today? Our unified dedication to the Lordship of Christ will propel us into a place of influence, allowing others to be drawn into and experience the love and hope of Jesus.
Because of Jesus, you matter. And we need to live in unity to fulfill what God calls us to matter in. Would you take some time today and process with God and the Holy Spirit whom you might need to forgive or ask forgiveness from? How is God leading you to live in unity today?