Christian Community

Community is an essential part of Christianity. Though there are times when being alone is an important part of a person’s spiritual journey, the Church is the dmode in which people travel the path of faith.

It seems that the early church in Jerusalem that each day was spent with other Christians in fellowship, in community (Acts 2:42-47) For better or for worse, that model has been forgotte, changed or replaced in America by weekly meetings and, perhaps, small group meetings.

I don’t believe that it is essential to be exactly limke the Jerusalem church to be a Christian community, there is not evidence from the letters to the other early churches that this was the general model to be followed by all Christians, but I do think that there is something very powerful within a caring, involved Christian community.

For so many people, church has simply become another social group that one can join. It has it’s dues, but it also has it’s benefits, ultimately though, it does not infiltrate the entirety of one’s life, but simply remains something that one is a part of.,

This is part of the reason that I love working with young people, both college-aged as well as teenagers. There is a growing trend amoung the youth of our nation(the sub-thirty crowd) that wants something more than just Sunday morning and Wednesday night. People that understand that things that are worthwhile cost something.

I am excited to begin working at the CSC, because here is a place that each and every day, Christians come together, not just for a scripture, a prayer and a rousing chorus of “Just as I am” (Not that any of those things are bad). It is a place where Christians can come together to just live life together, where they can experience each other’s lives, all the issues and the mess, the victories and blessing. A Place where people are loved

This is also why I love working with the youth group. During the summer, especially, teens tend to have a decent amount of time on their hands, and they often choose to share that with other members of the group, daily coming together to live life together.

This model is a powerful one, one which I think we could all benefit from. That is why I encourage all of us to build relationships with the people in the next pew. People that we have perhaps only seen on Sundays before, and invite them into our lives, into the dull and mundane, into the fun and exciting, and into the love of God.