After posting my last blog, I ran across some quotes via Rob Lane’s blog. They are both taken from John Eldredge’s book, Waking the Dead and are worth repeating here:
“A true community is something you’ll have to fight for. You’ll have to fight to get one, and you’ll have to fight to keep it afloat…. You want this thing to work. You need this thing to work. You can’t ditch it and jump back on the cruise ship. This is the church.”
What a great reminder. If we don’t take community seriously, it just isn’t going to happen. We cannot produce it by our own strength, but neither can we sit passively by and hope it shows up for us. We cooperate with God’s working in us as we build look for ways to experience the vitality and joy of New Testament community.
Hi bro’,
Just thinking…
If it takes a village to raise a child then it takes a lot more in the effort of an individual to keep community and fellowship real and alive.
I used to get so frustated and saddened when encountering problems in relationships with brethren… as if it just wasn’t supposed to happen. Now I see it as just plain inevitable. Where two or three are gathered… hey, I want to be first! Egos clash and threaten community and threaten oneness.
Unless we put ourselves, our agendas aside and defer to one another then we will continue to have problems in fellowship. I can’t do this by myself. I want my own way too much. I need the Lord to give me this focus. I first need to see and understand His incredible love for me and then I am able to love others.
Dave
Hi bro’,
Just thinking…
If it takes a village to raise a child then it takes a lot more in the effort of an individual to keep community and fellowship real and alive.
I used to get so frustated and saddened when encountering problems in relationships with brethren… as if it just wasn’t supposed to happen. Now I see it as just plain inevitable. Where two or three are gathered… hey, I want to be first! Egos clash and threaten community and threaten oneness.
Unless we put ourselves, our agendas aside and defer to one another then we will continue to have problems in fellowship. I can’t do this by myself. I want my own way too much. I need the Lord to give me this focus. I first need to see and understand His incredible love for me and then I am able to love others.
Dave
I agree Wayne when you say…"If we don’t take community seriously, it just isn’t going to happen. We cannot produce it by our own strength, but neither can we sit passively by and hope it shows up for us."
Our walk with Father is a walk together, with Him and with one another. He is our Helper. The work is a labor of love and our love for our brothers and sisters is the clearest evidence of our love for the Father. If we just sit waiting for it to show up, we may miss the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of discovering those other members of the body who might be closer than we think. I once thought that I had found this community in a traditional setting only to find that time and tradition seemed to be eroding it. So much seemed to get in the way of the community that I so desired.
But as we work to increase our trust and love for Him and earnestly pray for true relationships He will connect us with others. The immense changes that He has brought to pass in my life over a mear one year is prove of that. I actively pursued these relationships, first with my Lord and then with others who I could closely relate with. You were the first. Then Bruce & George. Then Eddie & Kevin. Then Wes. And also closer to home there is Amanda, who hopes to have a blog soon, and many others, not to mention a stronger family faith bond with my own children. All of this I attribute to the faithfulness of my Father resulting from a sincere hunger for active community among like minded believers. And there will be more as I pursue God.
One other thing. There has been one other who always has stood by me through good times and bad in the best relationship that a man could hope for….my wife Bev. The best communities start with good home relationships.
I agree Wayne when you say…"If we don’t take community seriously, it just isn’t going to happen. We cannot produce it by our own strength, but neither can we sit passively by and hope it shows up for us."
Our walk with Father is a walk together, with Him and with one another. He is our Helper. The work is a labor of love and our love for our brothers and sisters is the clearest evidence of our love for the Father. If we just sit waiting for it to show up, we may miss the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of discovering those other members of the body who might be closer than we think. I once thought that I had found this community in a traditional setting only to find that time and tradition seemed to be eroding it. So much seemed to get in the way of the community that I so desired.
But as we work to increase our trust and love for Him and earnestly pray for true relationships He will connect us with others. The immense changes that He has brought to pass in my life over a mear one year is prove of that. I actively pursued these relationships, first with my Lord and then with others who I could closely relate with. You were the first. Then Bruce & George. Then Eddie & Kevin. Then Wes. And also closer to home there is Amanda, who hopes to have a blog soon, and many others, not to mention a stronger family faith bond with my own children. All of this I attribute to the faithfulness of my Father resulting from a sincere hunger for active community among like minded believers. And there will be more as I pursue God.
One other thing. There has been one other who always has stood by me through good times and bad in the best relationship that a man could hope for….my wife Bev. The best communities start with good home relationships.
We ( my husband and I ) LOVE the church/body of Christ. And we have fought hard to stay part of the current church we were in. However, we got hit by a gossip truck by some of the leaders in the church. A toxic fire that really took us apart… we tried to stay 9 months past the “incident”but it became clear we couldn’t function in that church. The incident was crippling.. So sometimes we may really really really want things to work out but there are times we need to walk away…
Just saying…
Pam
We ( my husband and I ) LOVE the church/body of Christ. And we have fought hard to stay part of the current church we were in. However, we got hit by a gossip truck by some of the leaders in the church. A toxic fire that really took us apart… we tried to stay 9 months past the “incident”but it became clear we couldn’t function in that church. The incident was crippling.. So sometimes we may really really really want things to work out but there are times we need to walk away…
Just saying…
Pam