Question for You
I was listening to one of the local radio stations - kwyq, The Way FM, this morning on the way to the office. They were asking the question, "If you could live in a totally Christian community would you?" Responses varied.
I would be interested in knowing what you think. So. . .I pose the question to you. . .
If you could live in a totally Christian community would you? Why or why not?
I can't wait to read your responses.
Mike
I would be interested in knowing what you think. So. . .I pose the question to you. . .
If you could live in a totally Christian community would you? Why or why not?
I can't wait to read your responses.
Mike
Comments
People are already living in "Christian communities." However, these communities are not static. They are spheres where people congregate. What has become neglected are the [worldly] spheres we [Christians] would have influence in. Rather than influencing those spheres, we have (largely) turned our backs on them.
Sorry for the rant, but it is a good issue to rant on.
Daniel Moore
I agree with the general concensus. Sadly, we do not have to "live" in a "Christian community" to live in a "Christian community." To illustrate: few children go outside of their houses to play (on a consistent basis). Housing communities are now full of isolated individuals who communicate electronically, rather than face-to-face. People would rather text message than have a meal together. It doesn't matter where people "live" (where their domicile is located). Instead, "Christians" have already (in many cases) become isolated communities. Everything they are a part of is, in some way, "Christian." There is "Christian" entertainment (radio, movies, Sky Angel, books). We have "Christian" social networks. There are "Christian" schools. We have done everything we can to become seperated from the world. We have taken 1 John 2:15-16 to the nth power. In our attempts to not be of the world, we have also forgotten to be in it. We (many Christians, though not all) have insulated ourselves and our children from the "World", and the gospel suffers, as a result.
People are already living in "Christian communities." However, these communities are not static. They are spheres where people congregate. What has become neglected are the [worldly] spheres we [Christians] would have influence in. Rather than influencing those spheres, we have (largely) turned our backs on them.
Sorry for the rant, but it is a good issue to rant on.
Daniel Moore
The first verses that came to mind when I read the question was Matthew 5:13-16...."You are the salt of the earth......You are the light of the world..."
What good is Salt and Light in a brightly lit, salty community?
Had I not been "apart from God" ("unsheltered" from a "christian community") for a number of years in my life, my Papa's EXAMPLE of a Godly life and unshakable faith would not have resonated in me in those times I was apart from God. It was BECAUSE I was "apart from God", CRAVING Salt and Light that my grandfather's example meant so much to me and helped to bring me back "into the fold".
I am an active member of a christian community. That community consists of God, my fiance, my children, church family, biological family and christian friends. It's not for me to "sit easy" in that community because there is less work to be done there or because it is more comfortable for me. My "christian community" is where I renew my strength to go outside my "comfort zone" into a world full of pain, sorrow, hopelessness and sometimes even evil to share my testimony with those who are exactly where I've been, so that they may see what God has done in MY life, therefore encouraging them to seek Him. I'll give you the present example that I parallel to this belief...
I take 12-Step meetings into a ladies rehab facility on Monday nights. This particular facility held an awful, painful and tragic place in my past some 14 (or so) years ago. It is where I was employed the night that I was told my 2 and a half year old son had (suddenly) "gone home to be with the Lord". I never imagined that all those years later, I would be asked to share some of my experience, strength and hope with the clients there. I didn't even know that that was where I was being asked to go because the name had changed since I was employed there so many years ago. I emailed a friend of mine a few weeks prior to going and wrote, "I'm nervous about going because I've never been in a place like that before, but it's a door God has opened for me and I must enter it on faith." I didn't realize then that I would have a HUGE decision to make 3 weeks later upon arriving to that location again. I did not WANT to re-enter that painful place! I didn't WANT to revisit those painful feelings! I questioned God as to why I was asked to go THERE, of ALL the places I could have been asked to go! But I heard God's words fall softly and lovingly on my ear. The same words he gave to me to share in that email, "I've opened the door, all you have to do is take my hand and enter on faith."
I could have CHOSEN to KEEP my Salt and Light because I was too selfish and fearful to walk back through that door. Instead, I clung to His hand and upon entering the unit that we visited, I saw it. God's message to me... Taped to the wall was a hand-made poster of a child angel kneeled in prayer that said, "God, Teach me to laugh again...but never let me forget I cried." I wasn't THERE for the clients that night. I was THERE for ME. My God, my gracious and merciful and loving God brought me back there to begin to heal!
With the exception of a number of months, due to some policy changes, I have not missed an assigned Monday night there in the last couple of years. I use that gift that God gave me that night as part of my testimony. That is part of my Salt and Light that I can freely give to the parched and "unseasoned" souls there, just as I was "parched and unseasoned" only a few short years ago.
See, I can choose not to go into a world full pain, chaos and sorrow because I like my "Salt and Light community" where everyone "speaks my language" and "gets me", but I wouldn't only be cheating "those in darkness and living a bland life apart from God". I would be cheating myself as well, because it also tells us in that same passage that..."If the salt loses it's saltiness how can it be made salty again?" If I don't share the Salt and Light, I'll lose it. By sharing it, I get even more Salt and Light in return. Sounds like a win-win to me!
While, initially, the thought of living in a "christian community" may sound like "a little bit of heaven on earth", it also leaves a dark and unseasoned taste in my mouth. If everyone there has what I already have and it's all the same, where is MY contribution to the kingdom?
Think of it this way....what if we're invited to a banquet. A lovely feast. People from "outside the community" are there, but cannot fully enjoy partaking of it because it is dark and bland. What could WE (from our christian communities) do for the kingdom of God if we show up w/ a salt shaker and a lamp?
Seriously though, it would be tempting for the sake of my children. But we have a calling here to be salt and light in the world. We aren't representing Christ to the lost if we are hiding out amongst our own.
Cool post!
I've wrestled with this question, because we ask. . .I ask. . .Christians to live in a Christian Community all the time. I ask them to participate in a small group of believers to do the very things I listed above. And if you're active in a local church you've probably been asked to do the same as well.
So where's the line between living in Christian community and being salt and light is a distasteful, dark world?
Just something else I wrestle with. Thanks to everyone who responded.
Wish I could get comments from Facebook on here. There were some additional response there as well.
Mike