Community

I am now in my second class at Rockbridge Seminary and am loving the experience. The class I am taking now is called The Theology and Practice of Fellowship. Its focus is on the reason for and the how-to of biblical community. In reading a book, called The Connecting Church: Beyond Small Groups to Authentic Community, I found a story that sounds so truly American that it hurts. It talks about a family that desires true relationship so bad, yet for all that they are involved with are unable to find it.

Then, I had a strange desire to watch Rent the other night with Ginger. While I have seen the Off-Broadway show and seen the movie already, something really struck me watching it this last time, curled up on the couch. What I was seeing in the lives of these friends was real community. One shared money they had.  Another shared what food (okay, and drink) they had. Sounding familiar yet? Not only did they share what they had, but they were there for each other in the good and the bad. In other words, it wasn’t a relationship of convenience.

How many of us can relate to this? How many of us who can’t relate have a desire for this type of relationship? Whenever we talk about community and the church, Acts 2:42-47 has to come up. It talks about the early church and how they joined together and ate together daily. Is that possible in today’s disconnected society? Should this still be a goal for the church in the year 2009 and beyond? If so, is it achievable?