Living in community is a radical way we can find relationships the way God intends. Here are 5 reasons I believe community really will make your life better.
Why You Should Care About Building Community
Day to day life speeds by, exhaustion and overwhelm come knock at our doors and we joyfully receive any chance we have to escape the chaos by secluding ourselves. Never ending to-do lists are the primary mode by which those within western society operate. Rest and relationship are those semi-necessary things that get added to our lists when we are exhausted and lonely and then drop in importance when we have been temporarily satisfied.
But I think we have bought a lie. We falsely allow ourselves to believe that what we own will make us happy or how much money we have in the bank. We allow ourselves to think that somehow life will change when we reach this goal or accomplish that task but because the change is never built into our calendars, it is never reflected in our lives. Community is seen as optional. We battle loneliness and exhaustion constantly. We spend hours on our devices but believe ourselves too busy for real, in-person relationships. We crave what we do not know how to achieve.
I believe God has more in mind for His people though! We are more connected than we have ever been to each other and yet more distant. I know more about total strangers than I ever could have before and yet it is harder and harder for me to connect in a real, personal way with the people I see on a daily basis. But God has bigger plans for believers and we can live differently but it will take real work and intention on our part.
Related: 5 Simple Steps to a Life of Hospitality
Living in community is a radical way we can find relationships the way God intends and it is important.
Here are 5 reasons I believe community really will make your life better BECAUSE I know from experience is has made MY life better:
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Real Community Reflects the God We Serve
God loves community. He is a relational God. He has existed for all eternity as the 3 in 1. The Trinity has had perfect, unhindered fellowship for all time. And, as image bearers, He desires to give us a taste of that as well. One day we will enter into His rest and find ourselves perfectly in relationship to God. We will also find ourselves in perfect relationship with other believers.
As we participate in communion with other believers we are foreshadowing that beautiful day when we will sit around a table prepared for us by our Savior and eat a meal by His side (Revelation 19). God is building a community now and we see only a glimpse of it. One day we will see it in fullness and give Him glory for the beautiful community He has established!
When we choose to live our lives in community with other people now, we put on display the character of the God we serve.
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Real Community is Commanded in the Bible
God’s commands are never burdensome. He only commands things that are good for His people. He makes commands for our benefit, for our joy, and for His glory. He was fully aware of the information age in which we live when He wrote the commands of the Scripture and they stand today even when we feel so very connected by our devices.
Scripture is filled with “one another” commands. Books upon books have been written about all of them but here is a quick glance at a few.
- “Bear one another’s burdens” – Galatians 6:2
- “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:32
- “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” – Romans 12:10
- “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another.” – 1 Peter 5:5
- “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3
- “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” – 1 Peter 4:9
How can we fulfill the “one another” commands of Scripture unless we are in relationship with one another? If we are not an active part of each other’s lives, how can we help carry the load of life’s burdens or consider what other people want to be more important than our own desires? If we are not in relationship with each other, how will we ever have the opportunity to forgive an offense or offer hospitality?
Being in relationship is key to living out the Christian life. More and more, as a society, our doors are closed and our screens are on. We mistake Instagram and Facebook posts with real relationship. Because we have seen the social media side of each other’s lives we feel like we know one another.
Real community goes beyond the pretty and posed to the real life underneath. It offers a healing, helping hand to come alongside when the pain of life is real and raw. Ultimately, it is only in real community that we are able to fulfill these one another commands.
Related: Life In Community: The Importance of Relationships to the Christian Life
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Real Community Bids Farewell to Loneliness
Somehow we are simultaneously the most connected generation and one that experiences profound loneliness (check out this article from Time Magazine for proof). We consider it a badge of honor to be self-made and self-sufficient and to boast in that on social media regularly. I know I can fall into this trap regularly.
But real community comes alongside to offer help and support. When grief touches someone who has real community, it touches everyone together. We rally, we support, we pray for, encourage, make meals, and babysit children. When joy visits those within real community, it reaches everyone. We praise God, come alongside, and consider it a real blessing to experience it with others.
Real community means burdens are not shouldered alone and life is not lived without focus or purpose. Real community means sorrows and joys are shared.
I have experienced real, deep loneliness a few times in my life. The answer for me has always been turning to Christ with my expectations and desires, and turning to people with real relationship even when it is difficult to extend.
Related: A Welcoming Life: Extending Hospitality Beyond Our Homes
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Real community is a gospel witness
Our society is filled with those who view their lives as their own. They are lonely but have no one to tell. They understand intimately that social media is a Band-Aid on the gaping wound of a soul deep problem but they don’t know how to fix it.
But God has already offered the solution. The real solution to the problem of loneliness and seclusion is life in community. It is real relationships. This is why the Scriptures command us to be hospitable (more on that here). This is why God tells us how we are to relate to one another.
The world does not have the answer though they can certainly see the problem. The Bible gives the answer.
Rosaria Butterfield said her book The Gospel Comes with a House Key
Don’t believe me? Jesus says that “by this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”(John 13:35). Our love for one another will show the world we have been transformed by Christ. It is not our eloquent words or the perfectly posed pictures of open Bibles and coffee that will draw unbelievers to Christ. It is our love for one another. This love can only be put on display in the context of real relationships and everyday community.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Do not lose heart. Live the Christian life in community. The difficult, gut wrenching parts of relationships are part of what make them genuinely beautiful.” quote=”Do not lose heart. Live the Christian life in community. The difficult, gut wrenching parts of relationships are part of what make them genuinely beautiful.”]
Hospitality is how we reach out to a hurting world. When Jesus wanted to turn the world upside down with His message of redemption, He did it by recruiting a few men, living life with them, and then sending them out to live life with others.
We are amazed at the work the Holy Spirit did in the early church but what we read about the early believers is astounding! The Bible says that “day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (Acts 2:46).
God works by welcoming people. He welcomes sinners into the His home and He wants His people to welcome each other and unbelievers into their homes. In this way we mirror the work our Lord is accomplishing and we get to join the work.
Too often we think we have to put more money into church programs (I’m not saying they are all bad!) in order to see a work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. But what if, instead of all that, we just opened the door? What if we called a coworker who is struggling and ate a meal with them? What if we knocked on the neighbor’s door with an invitation to a backyard barbeque? What if we looked around our church for hurting people to be a blessing to? What kind of work could God begin through your life if you lived this way?
In order to really get excited about community, we have to believe it is necessary.
As the authors of the amazing little book The Simplest Way to Change the World say, “We must remember that the church has progressed for two millennia on God’s power at work around ordinary kitchen tables and living rooms.”
Maybe instead of trying to come up with a new idea, we should be open to God’s plan all along.
Related: 9 Quotes to Inspire You When You Don’t Fell Like Entertaining
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Real Community Puts God’s Grace and Forgiveness on Display
People will fail us and when they do, we are reminded of the Gospel and our utter failure toward God and His grace to us.
We will fail people. When we are forgiven we are reminded of God’s grace toward us. When we are not forgiven we are reminded that God does not act toward us the way sinful humans do.
We will get hurt and we will hurt others.
But we will also have great joy!
In relationships we will help others and be helped in our times of need. We will see the face of Christ in the compassionate faces of friends. We will feel His embrace in the hug of a loved one. We will know His grace as we experience forgiveness, restoration, and beauty.
God designed us for relationships. We were created to be in relationship with God and people.
We do ourselves and our world a great disservice when we lock ourselves away and refuse community.
Community Will Definitely Improve Your Life
Real community is vitally important but that doesn’t mean it is easy. Community doesn’t just develop on its own. It takes hard work, dedication, genuine love, forgiveness, and most importantly, prayer. I know how it is to battle loneliness and try in myself to solve my problem of lack of community. I also know how it is when I turned my desire and genuine need for relationships over to the Lord and prayed for Him to work in my situation. He has, on more than one occasion, literally placed a friend in front of me.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Do not lose heart. Live the Christian life in community. The difficult, gut wrenching parts of relationships are part of what make them genuinely beautiful.” quote=”Do not lose heart. Live the Christian life in community. The difficult, gut wrenching parts of relationships are part of what make them genuinely beautiful.”]
If you are looking for some ways to practice hospitality with the goal of REAL community, grab our latest free offer, 15 Gatherings You Can Plan in 15 Minutes Here!
Has community been important in your life? Do you struggle with this? How has the struggle impacted your life? Let me know in the comments below!
Hi, I'm Katie!
I help Christians get past their social struggles and feelings of isolation and loneliness by exploring all the skills we need to build community. I'm so glad you are here! Read more