Importance of Community in Faith
- Jared Osborn
- Aug 16, 2009
- Series: Newsletter Vol. 2 Num. 2
The fellowhip of MOPS moms is one example of community built through the church. Photo courtesy of Chrissy Heiland.
One thing the Lord has put on my heart recently is the importance of Christian community in our faith. Christianity is more than just a set of beliefs; it is a way of life that involves following Christ every moment of every day. It is a way of thinking that shapes who we are and our relationships with others.
This way is not lived out by autonomous individuals but by members of the Body who all contribute their gifts, their resources, and their lives so that together we all form the Body of Christ. This kind of community is formed through earnestly seeking the truth of the Gospel together as a local body and inviting the world to join in and learn with us what it means to be a Christian.
Why have many in my generation left the church? In many cases, it is because of the individualism they see in the churches of their childhoods. Individualism says that your faith is private, between only you and God, a thing that is professed on Sundays and then put away for the rest of the week. My generation is looking for something deeper than that, a faith that is both individual and shared in community, a faith that is not made uncomfortable by searching for truth and asking difficult questions, a faith that goes beyond personal beliefs to the essence of what it means to be a Christian.
Faith like this shows the world not just what it means for one person to live a Christian life but what it looks like when Christians come together to build the Kingdom of God. Having this kind of faith is difficult. It means that we have to be open to one another and that our lives must intersect at times other than Sunday mornings. It means that we have to see past our differences to our common identity that is found in Jesus Christ. It means that, individually and corporately, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ together.
This kind of faith is not natural, and it may make us uncomfortable. Living in community this way may reveal aspects of our lives that we would rather keep hidden, but it provides us with the opportunity for repentance and true healing. And, it provides a very real witness to those who do not know Christ, for when they want to know what it means to be a Christian, we can simply invite them to “come and see.”
Opinion by Jared Osborn.
