Most Christians today find themselves looking to join and serve in a church that manifests authentic Christian community. What would such a church look like today? First, the people would love God as God has revealed himself truly in Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior. Second, the people would believe the Bible is truly God’s word to us (and to them directly and personally). Third, the people would love one another and their love for one another would be evident to others and big enough to keep including new people. Fourth, the people would seek to find God’s specific way and will for them in order to fulfill the unique service to others that God wants them to pursue. Fifth, they would strive to love and serve according to the teachings of the Bible and not rationalize an ungodly standard of living, loving, and serving.
Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God and the Apostle Paul defined the Kingdom of God on Earth as ”righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). An authentic Christian community would strive to maintain right relationships with God and others on the foundation of the Apostles with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. In other words, everyone in the community would try to line up their lives with the teachings of the Bible and pray for Jesus Christ to give them the power to do His will. An authentic Christian community would try to maintain peace among those in the community and with those outside the community in so far as God enabled them. An authentic Christian community would manifest joy, the joy that the Holy Spirit infills in each person and each person shares with others.
To me, a mature Christian church or fellowship would demonstrate substantially, in a way that others would notice, these qualities. Achieving authentic Christian community is not easy, nor is it easy to maintain, but God gives us that challenge to reach for if we want to seriously meet the needs of people in our world today and tomorrow. At Stonegate Church, we strive to promote and maintain authentic Christian community in everything we do, and I believe we can continue to do so as we prayerfully trust in Jesus Christ and His Spirit.
#1 by marianneloveridge on February 22, 2008 - 11:17 am
Some other aspects of “community” that I have observed are necessary to creating this authentic experience would include the following: geographical proximity, frequency of contact, shared experiences (from the mundane to the sublime), eating together often, physically working together, engaging in combat together, performing community service projects together, as well as the more pietistic activities of prayer and Bible-study, etc. There is a nuts and bolts practicality of “doing life” together that is impossible to achieve in the prevalent car-culture big-church show-up-at-Sunday school thing that struggles to pass itself off as authentic Christianity. The need for “community” is the number one cry of the human heart, the most basic of all spiritual needs, the absence of which creates the most loneliness and despondency as is so obviously prevalent on the planet today. Community doesn’t happen by chance: it must be intentional, organic, and ideally, pedestrian-friendly.
#2 by LGP on February 29, 2008 - 2:50 pm
Excellent Observations! As I think of Christian community, I would like for people to think when they come into contact with such a group that “God is obviously present here,” and “See how they love one another.” Too often, the former is identified with “signs and wonders” being manifested in a group; whereas, I think God can also be present in “the still small voice.” The Holy Spirit within the believer needs to testify to their heart that God is in this place. Of course, a more objective standard is faithful teaching and practice of the Bible: is this observed in the community? Secondly, there does need to be real love that is inspired by God and the desire to love and serve God first and foremost in one’s life. This love, then, needs to be the motivator for the list of things you have described above. Thanks for the comments!