What does community mean to you?
What does it look like?
A community is essentially a group that shares things in common. It might just be a location, but it also could be characteristics, attitudes, interests, or even goals.
When we look at the life of Jesus, one of many things that stands out is the importance of community in His life. Each Gospel shows that some of the very first actions He took as His ministry began were to build community. And then throughout the Gospels, we see His commitment to building, maintaining, and strengthening it.
One of the many ways we reflect the image of God is in our need for community. We weren’t created to be alone. We exist to be in a community and we are created for the relationships within it. This was God’s intentional design for each of us.
And one of the things that stands out most when you look at the community Christ surrounded himself with, is that it was far from perfect. His community wasn’t neat and harmonious and so we shouldn’t expect ours to be either. It’s going to be messy, tough, and even awkward at times because the people—both in Christ’s as well as in our community—won’t always choose to do or handle things in the best way and/or may not even do what is right. But that doesn’t change God’s design.
There will be times for us, just as for Jesus, when our community won’t be fun or easy. We’ll experience conflict—even with those closest to us—over the most serious to the most trivial things. But there is one key factor to consider in evaluating that community: Even among all the missteps, is your community striving to follow Christ?
That’s the question I want you to consider today. And not just answering the question, but even considering why the question is important in the first place. As you go through this day, commit your time in prayer and fasting to answering this question and reflecting on the passages below.
Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. -Proverbs 13:20
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. -Ecclesiastes 4:9
Your community matters! And whether you realize it or not, you are influenced by them. So unless God is truly the focus of your community, the path you seek is unlikely to be the one you take. May God bless your day as we seek to be more like Him!
Daily Reading: Commit to Community
Proverbs 13:20; Ecclesiastes 4:9