Building Christian Community

If ministry is only the work of professional clergy and is restricted to what goes on at a church service or a major Christian event, then the church is lost and doomed to implode and die in our century. Why? Because, though these things may serve God, the personal touch is often lacking in them. People think clergy pray because that’s what they are paid to do. Many people are church-phobic. Large gatherings may attract people, but they cannot keep them. Happily, there is more to church and ministry than these. Ministry is what the whole priesthood of true believers everywhere does every day in the course of their faithful lives. It is what they do because they love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. It is what they are because Christ lives in them, and they are his. Real church is not an institution or a corporation. It is a loving, hospitable family that reaches out to the world the way Jesus’ hands of love and healing did when he was in the world. So, if the answer is this simple, why do we need books like the one you are holding? We need them because the meaning of true ministry and church may be lost in the fray of the spiritual war that is raging for the conquest of this earth. We must keep taking it back to the biblical norm in order for all of us in the church to survive and join in the victory won by our precious Lord.

No amount of money, sophisticated projects, grand displays, or facilities with impressive or elaborate architecture will make up for the power of what God can do with a community that is functioning in the way that Christ intended it to: being continually enriched and expanded by tapping into all the gifts God has given to its members. Christ told us how to do it in his word, and the value of this plan has not diminished through the centuries. If we are to each other and to the world what he wants us to be, the harvest will soon be reaped, and we will all go home.

It all begins when we realize how truly precious real community is. In the words of Dietrich Bonheoffer, as he reflected on fellowship from a cell in a Nazi prison,

It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that at any day now may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: it is grace, nothing but grace that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.¹

Yes! When every job possible is automated, every materialistic need met, every gadget conceivable invented, and people have seen every special effect on film in a depersonalized futuristic utopia of science fiction, the personal touch will still be in demand. Stories told by human beings will still mean something. A letter written by hand will still be valued. A meal cooked and shared in a hospitable home or church will still be a delight. A song sung by a voice near you or the mystery of a work of human art will still draw people in. A prayer or teaching shared person to person will still heal, edify, encourage, and inspire. The love shown by another person will still be an incomparable thing. How does one create a real community with Christ within? By taking all the gifts he gives us and helping us share them with each other and with the world.

Why do we need community? Simply put, because of Christ. He is in us, and we are one in him. This is a spiritual reality even if it is not apparent in the many expressions of Christianity. Those who truly believe are one. Again Bonheoffer speaks in this regard: “Christianity means community through Jesus Christ. … It means first that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.”²

This little book has given us some good ideas, but it is not exhaustive. Still, we touched upon some quintessential aspects of community, for example, intercession. We intercede for the world in prayer, and we see great and wonderful things because our God is real and he answers. Networking and socializing is another. Jesus went to weddings. In the gospels we see him and his disciples at many social events. He was a high-profile figure as well as up close and personal, and we should be too. Home ministry is also important, making the church less an institution and more a communal “home.” In all of these, we open our hearts to the world around us, showing forth his love and healing power.

Then there is the sharing of our gifts. Real community does not limit its members to one or two people’s ways of doing things, but makes room for the infinite creativity with which the community is endowed. We minister to one another with the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to build us up and mature us. Everyone brings something to the table of fellowship. We trust each other in the Lord. We become intimate friends, listening to each other’s cares and encouraging each other in the faith. We meet frequently to enjoy each other’s fellowship, not just in a formal service where we only see the back of our brother or sister’s head. We recognize that Christ is our constant companion because we recognize him in each other. We do creative things together. We take care of each other. We protect each other. We encourage each other in godliness. We love and pray for each other and for our enemies. We have fun together. We help each other when we need help. And, as a result, others cannot help but be attracted to our gatherings because what we have is not found in a mere club or bar or even in a support group. This is abundant life, the life we live together with Christ.

Is your expression of church like this? If not, then you have some work to do. In the New Testament, you will find the expression “one another” referring to how the body of Christ should behave toward each other. There are over fifty such references. It is a word study worth doing to look for these statements of “one another” or the Greek word allelon in the New Testament. If you can start implementing those, then you will see wonderful changes in your fellowship. In addition, you can also begin to think outside of your boxes. God is not confined to them, you know.

We hope this little book can give you some ideas about how to create and cultivate Christian community, but really God is not limited to our experiences. He can show up in a unique expression of ministry in each person in your fellowship and in every fellowship in the world. The most important thing to remember is that Christ is the sovereign head of the body, and, if you are not afraid and you listen to him, you will soon be doing things you never expected that will be effective for ministry and community.

Christ is the North Star by which we must navigate all things. To aim to become his effective community that hears the voice of the Spirit and does what he says, that functions as one in the mind of Christ, is very important. Such a community will include hospitality, intercession, instruction, physical and spiritual nourishment, creativity, networking, outreach, and social interaction. If all of these things are done in love, they are the “how” of community. Just before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed that his people would be a united and vital community. Do you remember it? This is what he said: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20–22 NIV).

Our eye needs to be “single,” or focused on Christ, but our heart needs to be open in love because he is our focus and he is love. Yes, there is only one way to heaven and that is him, but there are many ways to show that glorious truth to others. He is the conductor, and we are the majestic orchestra. No instrument is less important than another. Let’s give Jesus the last word on community, shall we?

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9–17 NIV)

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Further Reading about Creative Ways to Build Christian Community

Video Introduction to Creative Ways to Build Christian Community

Helping create Christian community

Notes

1. Bonheoffer, Life Together, 20.
2. Ibid., 21

This chapter is from the book Creative Ways to Build Christian Community edited by Jeanne C. DeFazio and John P. Lathrop (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013). Used by permission of Wipf & Stock Publishers. www.wipfandstock.com