Community

Lately (like in the past couple years) it has been occurring to me more and more the vast importance of community - that sense of belonging, of being part of something bigger than yourself. These "revelations" have come through many sources. Partly I have been made aware of it through the simple fact that I have been on staff at a church now for almost two years, the whole purpose of a church being to form a community of believers. Partly it comes through recognizing some of my own weaknesses (namely, my tendency to be a bit of a loner - not that I don't like being around people, but I really don't like depending on other people, I have a strong, "I can do it myself," mentality). But probably most surprisingly, I have been finding these little nuggets of truth about community through my study of Greek, of all things.
For example...Yesterday in our Greek class we were translating Galatians 5:16-24. It is a very famous passage, especially the part about the fruit of the Spirit. However, there was an interesting thing we discussed. Look at verses 15-16:

"But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

The interesting thing about this passage is our immediate tendency to personalize and individualize verse 16 (not that this is necessarily wrong, but I think we are shortchanging the whole message if we do this too quickly). The word "Walk," in verse sixteen is in the 2nd person plural form, meaning simply that it could be just as accurately translated, "Walk, all of you, in the Spirit..." My point is that this command to walk in the Spirit is to a group, a community, if you will, not an individual. Paul just finished telling them to stop fighting, then he gives a command for them to corporately walk in step with the Spirit so as not to fulfill (lit., "complete," or "carry out") the desires of the flesh. What becomes interesting is that this really puts a new hue to the rest of the passage. In Paul's laundry list of "the works of the flesh," out of eighteen things, eight of them are relational - "hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions...envy, murders." Then we come down to the fruit of the Spirit, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentless, self-control." See any relational implications in there?
Another Greek revelation that really surprised me is found in Hebrews 12:11-13,

"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which have been weakened, and the knees that have been paralyzed, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame man may not twist his ankle, but rather be healed."

(This is an ugly amalgamation of my own translation, and the NKJV). Without belaboring the details, you have these people whose hands have been weakened, and who knees have been paralyzed. These are wounded people. But where did these wounds come from? If we follow the context directly preceding, we read about how God "chastens" us, or punishes us, and how it is not enjoyable for the moment, but in time it is worth it. Then we come to the wounded people...Could these people have actually been wounded by God?? Have you ever been wounded by God? I know I have. I'm sure Jacob could say he had been wounded by God. To quote my Pastor, "God is not above wounding your flesh to get you to do His will." There is no doubt in my mind, nor from the scriptures, that God is willing to put us over His knee from time to time to teach us a lesson. But how does He do it? Does He give us an unsettled feeling in our hearts? Maybe. Does He withdraw His presence from us in prayer and in worship? Maybe. Does He allow sickness in our bodies? Maybe. Does He allow painful or difficult circumstances into our life? Probably getting warmer. Does He allow us to experience the consequences of our disobedience by lifting His protective covering a bit. I think this last one is most likely. I think God says in those times, "Okay, so you insist on disobeying me? Alright, you get to enjoy that sin, and everything that comes with it!"
Yet as believers, don't we have a tendency to judge most harshly those who are being chastened by God in this way? We seem to prefer to point our finger, cast judgments, and gossip, then to come alongside that person and help them to healing. These are wounded people, and perhaps it is God who has allowed this wounding. According to Heb. 12:12, 13 above, our job is to "strengthen the hands that have been weakened, and the knees that have been paralyzed." And we are to "make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame man will not twist his ankle." Do you hear what he's saying? He's telling us that when wounded people come to us (even those wounded by the consequences of their own actions), our job is to be agents of healing. We are not to put stumbling blocks in their way. What a mandate! What a challenge! What if we put ourselves on the other side of the equation. What if WE are the wounded party? Would we want whispers and gossip and finger pointing going on about us?
Probably the most challenging part of community, at least for me, has to do with the process of being vulnerable. Frankly, this part of it scares me to death. As I said earlier, I'm somewhat of a loner. And yet we will never understand the glorious depth and blessing of being a part of a community until we allow ourselves to depend on other people. Until we really feel our need for our brother or sister, they will be just another person in our lives. But when we acknowledge that we will never be all that God has called us to be; we will never be as whole as we could be; we will never know joy, and peace and contentment as fully as we could, if we would simply embrace community for all it is.
So now I end this exceptionally long blog entry with some very appropriate song lyrics:

Lean on me when your not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long 'till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on