The Missing Element [or the necessity of community] by clint wagnon   You were not intended to be an island. You were created for community. Authentic, meaningful, deep community. Wired for relationship. Designed for interdependence. That’s you. You can be successful, affluent, important, and busy, but if you’re not living in biblical community, there is a colossal void in your life. The thing is, you already know that. Despite the toys and treasures and trophies that clutter our lives, some of us are painfully aware of a nagging nothing that sears souldeep. The isolation is agony, and loneliness is your second best friend. Self-pity the other. Could it be that we've allowed busyness (or apathy or selfishness or passiveness) to rob us the thing we most desire - and need? The core value of our broken pluralistic postmodern culture is relationships. Ironically, this is same core value of Jesus Christ. Relationship was so important to him that he exalted it to the highest commandment, he taught it over and over, he modeled it among his followers (whom he called friends), and he ultimately poured out his life and gave us his death for one reason – relationship. From the same lips that thundered “Let there be light!” also streamed “There is no greater love than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The One who wired us understands us better than we understand ourselves. That ache to love and be loved is his handiwork. His genius has planted in the heart of every human a desperation to belong. Lying deep beneath the surface of the most shallow, or shattered, or successful soul is a cry for a place to call home… a house of friends. No where should this be better understood or more ardently embraced and vividly embodied than the community of God. Jesus loves his Church intensely, in part, because he knows the church is the hope of the world. The local church is the agent of God’s passion to bring alienated people to himself, and to his family. Because we are all broken people, wrecked by the depth of our fall, Jesus-like relationships are not easy for any of us. They involve intention. They take work. They require patience. And forgiveness. And grace. And pain. And did I mention intention? The natural and easiest thing to do is stay unplugged, cocoon, and live a self-centered life. But this is not an option for the one tagged “Christ-follower.” It is impossible to live in harmony with God outside of community with his tribe. Yes, the word was impossible. This is why some church attenders find themselves so empty. This missing element is community, and one cannot be whole without it. Consider these statements from Scripture: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” - 1 John 4:12 (NIV) “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35(NIV) “Everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well.” - 1 John 5:1(NIV) “Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” -1 John 4:20 (NIV) Creating a culture of community isn’t easy. This kind of love is not passive. It is more than tolerance or acceptance. It is active, self-denying, rugged, faithful, and again (perhaps above all else), intentional. And according to Jesus, it is the identifying mark of one who has been born from above. No, it certainly isn’t easy. But it is necessary. Here’s to doing life together.       :: Home :: back to soulfood >

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