Community is not what happens to a group when they finally feel warm fuzzies toward each other. Community does not "happen" at all. Community simply is, or is not. If I am in community with you, I may or may not experience warm feelings toward you, but it has no bearing on whether or not we are in community. We either are, or are not, regardless of how we feel about one another. It’s about ontology, not phenomenology.
Now healthy community is another matter, one of confession and absolution and forgiveness and grace, but one cannot learn to live and move in healthy community until one decides to be in community. And real community is the playground of hurt feelings, misunderstood motives, annoying idiosyncrasies and growth in grace, which is probably why so few actually decide to do it.
Seems to me like “community” within the context of sect developing to new religion (christianity) was all phenomenological (both philisophical-perception, and as adjectival-marvelous) yeilding to your present day ontological view, which seems to still have that Kantian feel,which seems not to exist in the wacky world of protestentism. Semantics.
Could it be that the “emergent church” (which is way too familiar eg. quakerism, grace brethren, early pentecostalism)…is an attempt to return to pre-reformation communal worship? I am not catholic, by the way. Also, Demons is a great book…my favorite in your library. Thanks for thinking.
Ben as always a good post to make you think. I grew up in a community of people that committed to live as community. It was idealic and inbread at the same time. I think that this is an important work to be church but as you noted it is also extremely difficult to do in healthy ways. A great look at community and what it can be at it best is a group called L’Arch. There is a program on it on the link below if you’d like a taste: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/larche/index.shtml
I agree that it can be hard because we don’t always have great examples modeled. But, I also think we make it too complex and harder than it needs to be also. When a baby is born, it is born into a family (yeah, and into a community or town or whatever, but work with me here). Jesus came to bring us to the Father and to give us the right and power to be His children, to become part of His family. The Bible clearly says that we are a “family of believers.” If we’re all brothers and sisters, then we are a… (yes, yes)… family.
How does family behave? Family is loyal; we stick together no matter what; we love eachother as we are; we accept eachother as belonging, just because we are part of the family; etc.
That’s the idea I was getting at, Peter – that community is a simple reality. On a theological level, when you are ‘born from above’ into new life and baptized into the family of God, you get a whole new batch of brothers and sisters, whether you would have chosen them or not!). I think living in the context of family teaches us a whole lot about community. It’s not a whole bunch of people with similar tastes, life-stages or interests. It’s often a group of wildly different ages, tastes, personalities, and interests. That’s why I don’t think splitting people up by age or interests is really all that helpful. Let’s learn what it means to be the Body of Christ together.
Hey bro’. I actually did catch that in what you wrote. I appreciate that. I tend to simplify more these days, I guess. If it was rocket science or you had to have a ThD, most of us would be out of luck. But everyone can love and learn from God how to love and be loved. What I am undone by these days is the sacrificial nature of love. One example is as the Proverb says, “A friend loves at all times and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.” Yeah, I had a lot of work needed in that area, what with being as selfish and self-centered as I was; oh my word. But, moving on… “Not that I’ve already obtained all this and already been made perfect, but I focus all my energies on this: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…”