In Community

In a Christian community, everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable. A community which allows unemployed members to exist within it will perish because of them. It will be well, therefore, if every member receives a definite task to perform for the community, that he may know in hours of doubt that he, too, is not useless and unusable. Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship. ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

This Saturday we will gather for our first (in a long line hopefully) Theology Cafe. It may seem different than any other "religious" experience you have had in the past, mainly because it isn't a religious experience, it is an experience of spiritual community... Here is why it will be different, and why everyone has an equal voice:

A chain unconnected is a collection of links, useless for the work it was intended, and likewise people who are unconnected are somehow not complete.

A link connected in a chain is indispensable, no chain can work to its purpose without each individual link firmly in place, likewise each member of the community is indispensable when connected in their place.

From the early beginnings of the Church the community of believers was indistinguishable from its leaders when it met in common. Each person ate from a common table, lived in a common house, and worked toward a common goal. From the very beginning we were intended to be like that community of believers so many years ago. We were charged by Jesus to be different than any other group of people today, we were to come together in common, share worship in common, care for each other through the week and lift each other up. We were to have a love for God that overtook all other loves, and we were to love each other as we love ourselves. We were to be transparent, open, caring, merciful and all things good.

Each person, from the person sitting in the last row in the last seat, to the teacher was to be equal in their standing in the community. We are to live and breathe in community, no matter when we gather. Each person is important, and each person has equal importance. Our community is made up of people at different levels of their spiritual journey. We must ask ourselves; are we being faithful to each of these people, or are we being faithful to our needs and desires for how things should go? Like good ole Dietrich says above, “Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship”.

We must above all else, above the delivery of the message, above the development of the songs, above the preparation of the room, remember that what we were called to do was to come together in community to love God and each other, everything else is a residual effect of that call from God. I hope to see you this Saturday, or any 4th Saturday of the month @ Theology Cafe.