But I have to admit that I am actually more proud of her than I am anything else. I am proud, and glad, that we do not excel at all the same things. How boring our lives would be if everyone around us was passionate, gifted, and talented in all the same areas. If this were true for me then the world would be full of people who enjoyed sports, Superman and had an unhealthy fascination with cleaning. However, thankfully, this is far from reality. Especially in my marriage. Certainly Laura enjoys sports, Superman and cleaning (I have obviously undersold the vast array of my passions, gifts and talents for the purposes of creating a moderately humorous analogy) but these things do not move her to action. As mentioned above, she has a wonderful writing gift that I adore and am deeply proud of. It is not the similarities in our passions, gifts and talents that define us and help us move forward. Rather, it is our ability to utilize and lift up our differences that help create the building blocks for a powerful and active life together.
It is amazing to me how often people try to "go it alone" on their life journey. And certainly this rings true for many Christians. We have an unhealthy belief that our faith is our own and so our journey must be done on our own as well. There were moments when I actually convinced myself that I had all the answers to my own walk with Christ. I didn't need other people telling me how to walk my faith journey. It was mine after all.
Have you seen the movie "The Way?" It is a story of a man who loses his son on the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). He goes to France to pick up his son's remains and ends up walking the Camino in his son's honor. He is filled with grief and pain as he begins his journey but along the way he meets three other "pilgrims" who become his pilgrimage community. Everyone in this four member pilgrim community has separate reasons for walking the Camino de Santiago and all are content to remain allusive as to the truth behind the journey. As the movie progresses we see each member dealing internally and externally with the reality that walking the journey alone will simply not cut it. It is as they begin to discover each other's personal story, passions, gifts, and talents, that they see the truth that the journey is better done in community. I have become increasingly more convinced of something that I should not have had to be convinced of. And this is simply that following Christ is so much better when done in community. And I am talking about more than simply doing small groups in church to help foster community interaction. I am talking about a holistic community approach.
If you live in the Western world then you live in the reality of individualism. In our culture we cling to our individual rights and abilities to pursue what most drives us, personally. And this individualism has seeped into our understanding of a relationship with Jesus and his church. So often we "go it alone." Certainly we will talk as if we believe community is important. We write books about community, preach on it, study it, and do everything we can do to discuss it without having to live it out. We have personal Bible studies. We pray to our personal Lord and savior. We sing along to Christian radio stations when no one is around.
Now don't hear me say the things mentioned above are bad. They are quite the opposite actually. These are vital components to our spiritual journey with Jesus. However, if this is all we seek on our journey then we will be met with constant frustration and doubt.
Jesus consistently sought the solitude and silence of God's presence for spiritual nourishment. However, he was constantly in community with his disciples as he sought to go deeper into his relationship with his Father. Throughout scripture we see that our faith journey was meant to be done in community. Even when Jesus was at his lowest point and needed the solitude and silence of God's presence, he invited his disciples to join him in the garden for a time of prayer. Paul often discussed living our faith out in community. In 1 Corinthians 12 he tells the church that not everyone should have the same gifts. The spirit gives different gifts for the glory and majesty of God to be declared. And all the gifts, talents and passions are used in harmony by God to fulfill his divine prerogative.
I have to admit that as a minister there are times when this is difficult to follow. It is sometimes easier to do things on my own and execute them for a group of people. But I have come to believe that this cheapens the journey for those I am leading. I am short changing them of the power of community by ministering in this way. And so a change has been taking place in me as I view ministry in God's Kingdom in a community driven way. It is my job to develop a community of people who are committed to walking their faith journey together....with me right along side them.
This changes the way we approach leading ministry at our church. First, we preach out of community. This means that our content, study and preparation for preaching to a community is done in community. Second, we teach our House Church leaders to surface the passions, gifts and talents of their community and from that to form their vision and mission for their group. Third, we teach people to give up their individualism and embrace living as God's family. There are many more ways we try to connect people to each other in community but these should help to understand some of what we do.
The House Church we attend is led by two of our closest friends here in Nashville. This couple has a divine gift to create a community of love and acceptance with anyone and everyone they meet. They have a heart for their friends and family and for the people living in their neighborhood. Recently their neighbor's daughter was baptized at Ethos. The House Church they lead is far from perfect. And that is the point. The Boyd's have created a community where people are allowed to be who they were created to be by God. And together, in community, we navigate our faith journey, highlighting our different passions, gifts and talents so that we can increase our impact in God's Kingdom!
Life lived in community is exciting, fun, difficult, and sometimes painful. But it is the way that God intended his church to live. I cannot imagine what my life would be without my family. I cannot imagine what my relationship with Jesus would be without God's family that has walked with me as I learn how to dive deeper into the love, majesty, mystery, and character of God.
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