Being "In Community"

The word “community” has become such a commonly used buzz word it has lost all semblance of a consistent meaning. At the same time, “community” is a central idea in our Christian faith. We know we were created by God for community and that we thrive as individuals in the context of community. Experiencing “authentic community” has proven to be a vital growth element in many areas of life, including recovery movements, “group therapy,” etc.

Throughout the history of the Christian church, the idea of “community” opens up the possibility of various “small group” experiences. In the New Testament some form of “small group” can be seen from the “two or three gathered in my name” of Jesus to the “they met from house to house” in the book of Acts. Every significant renewal movement in the church’s history has included a reemphasis on small groups, from the “choirs” of Zinzendorf and the Moravians to the “classes” of Wesley and the Methodists. I have been consistently involved in various “small group” ministries since the early ‘70’s. I remember: (1) cell groups, local congregations organized and led primarily through small groups formed geographically; (2) life groups, a pastoral strategy that depended on small groups and pastoral leaders in every group; (3) affinity groups, small fellowship groups organized around a common interest (a “Gun Cleaning Group” was one of my favorites); (4) G12 groups, the pyramid scheme of small group ministry (I just offended someone – so sorry); (5) missional communities, groups that not only shared life together but also shared in a mission in their community; and on and on the list could go.

More recently we have encountered the challenges of experiencing authentic community and a multi-racial, multi-generational, multi-class diverse congregation. To be honest, most small group models depend on in-tact families in a middle class (largely white) home and neighborhood. Cultures that have a strong extended family kinship structure look to their kinship group for community. Many churches still look to Sunday School or Bible Study to provide an experience of community. Combining all those (and other) groups together in one congregation requires a new definition of how community can be experienced. In 2004, the Willow Creek Community Church conducted their REVEAL study, showing that involvement in a more traditional kind of small group primarily benefits newer believers; more mature believers are benefited by experiencing community in a small group that serves together. As a result, they changed one of their core values from, “We want every member to be in a small group, to “We want every member to be in community.” So my question is this: What does it mean to “be in community”? Let me suggest a few ideas.

Being in community depends on a certain quality of relationships:

1.  Transparent relationships, marked by honesty and accountability. Relationships that are guarded and superficial (true of most relationships) prohibit the possibility of community. Somehow we have to learn to trust enough, and earn enough trust, to let our guards down, to be open and honest with each other.

2.  Trustworthy relationships, held together by loyalty and dependability. There must be a level of unconditional love and commitment that creates a “safe place” for participants. All of us have experienced rejection, betrayal and abandonment. The scars left behind make community very difficult. The example of Jesus returning to the disciples after they had abandoned (and even denied) him, offering him his love, gives us hope that it can be done.

3.  Transformational relationships, resulting in changed lives and a Kingdom witness. Our desire is that we will grow and be changed as a result of the life that flows between us in community. Remember what Paul said: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:15-16). You can find any number of relationships that include unconditional love and acceptance, but if they are to be transformational, the elements of accountability (which might include confrontation in love) must also be present.

Most importantly, being “in community” is only possible in a Christ-centered context. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:19-20). The kind of relationships described above are humanly impossible without Christ at the center. It is the Presence of the Lord in the midst of community that makes it life-giving and transformational.

It doesn’t matter what you call your experience of community in a smaller fellowship – we use the term “Community Group” to refer to any and all such groups. The only thing that matters is the extent to which those who participate experience being “in community.” It’s that experience that we are passionately committed to – every member “in community.”