Have you ever been called into community?
When I was fourteen years old, I was called into community, although I would not have put it that way. I was the typical, nerdy adolescent: bright, not socially adept, and not particularly athletic. I made good grades (at the time, an underachiever), was a member of Student Council, was a Life Scout, went out for the baseball team (but never got to play in a game), and lived a life removed from faith altogether. In my case, this did not make me different than the rest of my family, because none of us went to church. Hardly ever. Weddings and funerals – that was it. When it came to church, I was definitely an outsider.
Then a small but significant thing happened in my life. A friend that I had known since kindergarten asked me to go to a church event with him one evening. It was nice to be invited, so I went with Rodney. Neither one of us could drive, so his folks picked us up in their Buick LeSabre and drove us to church. It was an interesting community. I was attracted to the young people in this church, but really, the entire group seemed open and welcoming. And so I began to go to church with Rod regularly.
Every time the church doors were open, Dean and Lucille O’Dell would drive out of their way (about a mile) to come by my house and pick me up to go to church with them. Over the next several months, I was invited into relationships with members of that community: friendships, teacher/student relationships, mentor/mentored relationships, relationships with spiritual fathers, and relationships with spiritual mothers. I had never experienced anything like this before. The community was affirming and connecting. This community gave me guidance, but it did not seek control. This community sought to help me find myself, and gave me some clues about what that self might look like, but it did not seek to make me conform to some standard and preconceived mold.
I wanted to be a part of this community.
Fortunately for me, the Eastside Church of Christ in Duncan, Oklahoma extended regular invitations to outsiders to become insiders. But really, they had brought me into the community, and shared with the me many of the benefits of the community long before I agreed to become a member of it. They welcomed me into their fellowship, and did whatever it took to allow me to participate in it. They picked me up and drove me to church until I was old enough to drive myself. They helped my brother and sister make the same regular trips. They understood community.
Have you ever been called into community?
When you were born, you were called into the community of family.
When you became a Christian, you were called into the community of faith.
When you came to minister at Westview, you were called into a community of hospitality and healing.
We have all been called into community.
Now it is in our hands to help shape those communities. How will they look? Will our communities appear to be open and inviting, or closed and impenetrable? Will our communities seek to serve as the grace of God, or as his judgment? Will we gently mold each other, or use the tools of manipulation? All of these decisions, and hundreds of others, shape the character of our community. That community may be our church, our ministry, or our family.
What do our communities look like? Do people see open arms or cold shoulders? Do people hear inviting words or impossible demands? Is it more likely that the people smell the aroma of Christ or the stink of unresolved disagreements? Can people taste the fruits of the Spirit amongst us, or can they not even get to the table? Do people feel the embrace of fellowship, or the cold distance between us? It is good to see ourselves as we are, but complaining about it never fixed anything. Only persistent, loving action can do that.
Have you ever been called into community?
On behalf of Jesus Christ, I am recalling you into your communities today. See them afresh. Help them be renewed. Restore to them the vibrancy intended by their Lord and Master.
Many will be blessed if we do these things. Who knows how many lives may be touched by influencing just one person. One outsider.
Grace and peace,
Ron
