Community

It occurred to me the other day that Stef and I are both guilty of something that I dare say most of the American church is guilty of as well.  We much prefer the idea of community to actual community.

Allow me to expound on this idea, if you will.  Our little church community here is awesome.  The main difference of course is that it’s in Spanish.  Another huge difference is the length of it.  Church normally goes for at least 3 hours, sometimes as many as 5.  Additionally, prayer meeting is about the same time length, maybe 2.5 hours or more for starters.

Now most people, ourselves included, would think that’s outrageously long for church.  What I’ve come to realize though, is that we’re the problem in this scenario.  We come from a culture that largely emphasizes the individual over the community.

I once heard Francis Chan say he visited some part of Asia and was asked what church in America looked like.  When he responded church in America usually meant 1 hour on Sunday and 1 hour during the week for small group, the believers there just laughed.  They asked him how people could read the New Testament and think 2 hours a week was sufficient to build community.

Many moons ago, I lived in community a couple times during the summer on different mission trips.  As in, living with people on mission in the same place.  

Now, I realize that’s obviously not practical if you have a family, but there has to be something more than 2-3 hours a week, right?  Especially if you consider the hour on Sunday usually consists of roughly 2 minutes of meet and greet when people are actually talking to one another.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that Steffani and I as well as most others I know simply like the idea of community over actual community.  Real, actual community by necessity takes a lot of time to cultivate.  More time than we want to give to it.

I’m learning little by little to appreciate community here.  I adore the people in our church, each one for different reasons.  And I’m trying to get over my desire for individual autonomy in exchange for something better...community.