Community

I have been reflecting quite a bit about what it means to be a community of faith. This time of year at our church we are looking at stewardship and ministry. I believe that both community and stewardship are tied together. What we belong to and want to continue to be part of we will support with our time, talent, and treasure. I think about all the opportunities that people have to belong to and yet service organizations are struggling for membership as are churches. Sporting teams seem to flourish and take time even when they intrude on Sabbath. Even gangs are flourishing while communities of faith struggle. I wonder where churches are failing to address the needs that people have for belonging to something meaningful in their lives. Sports provide a concrete way of being part of something. Churches somehow are not providing for that need.
I struggle mostly with the idea that even though we are blessed with the financial support to do our ministries, our attendance at worship and at other church functions are down. It would appear that more people are comfortable talking about their social activities than about their faith and their church. A sociologist named Robert Putman wrote a book entitled "Bowing Alone" in 2000 that describes the collapse of American community. The book goes into depth about the continued disconnectedness of one another and how social structures whether they be the PTA, church, or even political parties have disintegrated. Even after 9/11 there has continued to be the trend of this social disconnected aspect of community.
Even with this happening many people complain about the fears that they have about what is happening and the feelings of insecurity. Despite their complaints they still tend to pull away from the very social structures that could impact those concerns directly. People are turning to the Internet, television, video games, on-line games and chat; and complain about feeling alienated. I came across a mediation found in Lawrence Stookey's book "This Day."
He begins by quoting from 1 Corinthians 12:26-27. "If a member suffers, all suffer together with it, if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." I am reminded what Martin Luther King Jr said in the letter from the Birmingham jail about if one person suffers injustice we are suffer together. Stookey then quotes from Hebrews 10:24-25. "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another." He states, "As it takes an entire village to raise a child, so also it takes an entire congregation to nurture a Christian. God has created human beings in an interlocking system of relationships, apart from which we cannot flourish. The church is a gift from God in order that we may be provided with a community of faith in which to grow; in the process this community holds us accountable and encourages us in our spiritual journey. Regular participation in the life of a congregation is intended to be mutually beneficial. As others spur us on, so we also spur others on. (p80)"
My concern is that if we continue to pursue only our individual lives and getting only what benefits me, I will never be held accountable to others and how what I do affects others. So whether I misuse resources, spend time isolated from others, consume without discrimination and understanding of why what I buy is so cheap, I perpetuate the problems that our society and God's creation face. As a Christian, I need to be reminded that just sitting back is not what Jesus or even Paul suggests. We are to go out to invite others into relationship with God and with one another, face to face. It means making community and one's presence in that community a priority in one's life. When we do that and are willing to share that, just maybe we could see some of the issues that cause the most fear lessen.