Community, The Inner-Journey

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:13-15 NLT

“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” The words of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen powerfully display the role of each person in community. God’s gift of community has been on display as we watched “strangers” responding to the crisis of the Guadalupe River devastating flood. God gave us the precious gift of community to journey with us in times of life’s disasters. God also gifted us with community to be part of our inner spiritual life and development.

God empowers the community to be His hands and feet when we face natural and physical disasters. God equally empowers community to walk with us in our spiritual journey. Without community, individuals would have a limited impact on the world’s needs, and without community, we would be limited and often stagnant in our personal spiritual growth. We need each other in times of natural disasters, as we need each other in our personal struggles and growth.

Dave Booram, an Indiana pastor and retreat leader, shared some of his story and his search for spiritual healing in a recent blog post. “For several years after I was betrayed by church leaders, I actively and passively struggled to find another faith community. Slowly, as my wounded spirit began to heal, I recognized my need and longing for human/spiritual companions again.” Booram writes that he was able to connect with others who walked with him in his spiritual journey. He now writes that, “My spiritual life seemed lighter, more authentic, more loving, more relevant to my life’s experience. So, when I was asked the question, ‘What do I need from my church?’ I found myself answering simply: I need to be reminded of Jesus. I still need that. During the ups and downs, the inner and outer convulsions of my week, I need a sacred community that reminds and recalibrates my heart, head, and hands to Jesus.”

What do you need from your sacred community? Parker Palmer, in his book A Hidden Wholeness, writes, “The journey toward inner truth is too taxing to be made solo: lacking support, the solitary traveler soon becomes weary or fearful and likely to quit the road. The path is too deeply hidden to be traveled without company; finding our way involves clues that are subtle and sometimes misleading, requiring the kind of discernment that can happen only in dialogue. The destination is too daunting to be achieved alone. We need community to find the courage to venture into the alien lands to which the inner teacher may call us.”

We all need community, a place where we are challenged, encouraged, and occasionally reprimanded. The different seasons of growth result in our maturing to become more like Christ. The writer of Hebrews set the standard for how community should impact our lives. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb 10:24-25)

Sebastian Junger covered the war effort in Afghanistan for over a decade, living mostly with the troops in military barracks. Most of the soldiers talked about the day when they would return home, but what Junger noticed, a great many would reenlist for another term within six months. He started asking questions on why they would give up comfort in the suburbs for a hard life in the barracks. His observations led to his book, Tribe, and the conclusion that “a robust sense of community and an embodied counterculture does more to draw out the human heart than comfort, wealth, ease, or social “progress” ever could.”  (from Tyler Staton, The Familiar Stranger)

Jesus modeled the power and beauty of oneness, knowing we would need each other if we were to become all that we could be. Jesus prayed for his followers, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:21-23)

Our modern society can be defined by mobility and individuality as a core value. Junger made the point in his book that, “A person living in a modern city or a suburb can, for the first time in history, go through an entire day—or an entire life—mostly encountering complete strangers. They can be surrounded by others and yet feel deeply, dangerously alone. The evidence that this is hard on us is overwhelming.”

What a difference an energized, Christ-filled, unified community can make in our world. Together we “carry each other’s burdens” (Gal 6:2); encourage one another in worship (Eph 5:19); “admonish one another with all wisdom” (Col 3:16); as we “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21) and ultimately living as “the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Eph 4:16)

“The community of the saints is not an ‘ideal’ community consisting of perfect and sinless men and women, where there is no need of further repentance. No, it is a community which proves that it is worthy of the gospel of forgiveness by constantly and sincerely proclaiming God’s forgiveness.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Together, making an impact outwardly and inwardly!

God is great!