There are times when community gets tough. When jumping out of the (fellow)ship seems way easier than sticking it out. But when we abandon ship because it holds people we don’t like, we also abandon community.

“Community has little to do with mutual compatibility. Similarities in educational background, psychological make-up, or social status can bring us together, but they can never be the basis for community. Community is grounded in God, who calls us together and not to the attractiveness of people to each other. There are many groups that have been formed to protect their own interests, to defend their own status, or to promote their own causes, but none of these is a Christian community. Instead of breaking through the walls of fear and creating new space for God, they close themselves to real or imaginary intruders. The mystery of community is precisely that it embraces all people, whatever their individual differences may be and allows them to live together as brothers and sisters of Christ and sons and daughters of his heavenly Father.” – Nouwen

It’s easy to build community when everyone looks like you, talks like you and believes the same things as you — but is that really the type of community we’ve been called to be a part of?

How have you struggled with these barriers? How have you overcome them?

“Love means loving the unlovable – or it is no virtue at all.” – GK Chesterton

This coming Saturday (Jan. 8 @ 9 a.m.) I plan to meet with a number of folks interested in building community within our tribe.

The group will be made up primarily of our community group facilitators and hosts.

We’ll be working through our regroup material as some what of a refresher course and I hope to show this video from the TransFORM Network as well…

Our vision for encounter — as well as our community groups is:

• Building spaces of grace
• Building intentional relationships
• Sharing relevant truth

But I’m curious…

What would you tell these leaders about building community?

What do you desire most in your search for community?

What do you find lacking most?

BTW – you’re all welcome. The discussion is open to anyone and everyone interested in building community and talking through what that means. Just drop me an e-mail and let me know if you’re interested in coming…

the concept of most American Christians is that church is a building, service, or program and that it has to exist in that form.  Scripture never mentions church like that.

instead it presents church as the collective interaction of Christ followers.  it not something done.  it is someone we are.  it is not a place to go.  it is how we are connected.  it is not a location.  it is a relationship we share.

buildings, programs, and services are something we have added.

imagine for a moment the freedom, calling, and possibilities of understanding and living as church!  imagine grace as something we passed on in everyday relationships instead of just something we sang about on Sundays.  imagine life flowing from every follower of Christ wherever they were.  imagine believers creating spaces of grace in their homes, places of work, coffee shops, parks, and neighborhoods. 

this is church as Jesus intended.  this is what He died for.  not for buildings.  not for services.  not for programs.  not for membership.  not for committees. 

• for personal freedom in Christ.
• for real life relationships.
• for faith that is relational not institutional.
• for creating spaces of grace for others.

I studied architecture when I was in college.  One of the first assignments I had was to design “space” – not create a design, but create space.  We were given one inch square black pieces of paper and told to begin.  Creating space is more challenging than create a design. 

Space is the area created by the edges of solid pieces. 

While there are many different arrangement possibilities, the one above is one of the most powerful.  The sides of the three squares create a space within that is similar to the shape that they have.  Space can be created with two squares, but clearly defined space really requires three squares. 

Interesting. 

The lessons of that design class have stayed with me over the years.  I have come to see that they have powerful truth for followers of Christ. 

The Bible says that every child of God is a living stone and part of something that God is building today.  (1 Peter 2:4-5)  This is not a reference to church buildings, church programs, denominations, or political movements.  It is not about making a place for God to live, for today He lives inside those who have been born of Him.  So what is being built?

Space.

Space for others to see and experience Him.  Space that is created by living blocks.  Space that is created by the relationship of one block to another.  Space that invites others in.  Space that looks like Him.

Remember that it takes at least two blocks and really three to create space?  Look at what Jesus said…

For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in their midst.      (Matthew 18:20)

We are to be creators of space. 

Not just physical buildings we call churches, services we call church, or programs we call church.  Space can be created in our homes, in coffee shops, at work, or anywhere that two or three are together.  

We are to create space where others sense Christ because of our relationships.  Space where grace, hope, sacrifice, wisdom, authenticity, freedom is experienced.  Space that entrance.  Space that has security.  Space that is alive.

Spaces like that change people.

(song of solomon 7:10)

Imagine if this was your story… an alcoholic, Catholic, ex-Catholic, and then Catholic again, former priest, divorcee and a sinner saved by grace.

What would you write about?

I’d hope no matter how many stories you told and no matter how many books you wrote, you’d always go back to reminding folks about God’s Amazing Grace. It’s “the larger and more important story. Only God, in His fury, knows the whole of it.”

Brennan Manning writes in his latest offering:

In my forty-four years of ministry, the furious love of God has been the dominant theme of my life. I’ve varied with titles such as Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child and The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, but they are all facets of the same gem: that the shattering truth of the transcendent God seeking intimacy with us is not well served by gauzy sentimentality, schmaltz, or a naked appeal to emotion, but rather in the boiling bouillabaisse of shock bordering on disbelief, wonder akin to incredulity, and the affectionate awe tinged by doubt.

I’ve been surprised to read some of the reviews of Manning’s latest book, “The Furious Longing of God.” Many seem to think its a book just for the downtrodden, those with low self-esteem, those who need a pick-me-up. But I’m certain we all need reminders of God’s furious love for each of us – each and every day.

We all need to be reminded that the living God is passionate and furious longing to have an intimate loving relationship with each of us. It’s no wonder that Jesus and Scripture often refer to the relationship between God and man as similar to the relationship between a groom and his bride. It’s a union.

A union that “not only transcends every political, social, cultural and religious consideration and not only infuses them with ultimate meaning, but defines the very purpose of life itself.”

We need to be reminded that not only does God have this furious longing for us, but also “for real sinners, thieves, adulterers and terrorists, for those caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams.”

When we realize how passionate God is about us — and that that same passion extends to the far reaches of man-kind — how can we ever choose to ignore those around us?

“The Kingdom of God is not a subdivision for the self-righteous or for those who lay claim to private visions of doubtful authenticity and boast they possess the state secret of their salvation. No, as Eugene Kennedy notes, “it is for a larger, homelier, and less self-conscious people who know they are sinners because they have experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle.”

We can claim to be missional, loving Christians all day long, but until we put together the ideas that it is no longer us, but Christ living in us and that “the living acts of a Christian somehow become the living acts of Christ” alongside with the idea that God has a furious longing for each of us — we’re missing out on so much.

“For His love is never, never, never based on our performance, never conditioned by our moods — of elation or depression. The furious love of God knows no shadow of alteration or change. It is reliable. And always tender.”

And thus our love for others should be the same. We should have the same love for our spouses, our kids, our parents, our siblings, our extended family, our neighbors, our co-workers, those who are easy to love and those who are not so easy to love.

The book itself is full of great examples of the deep, deep, reckless, fury that we call the love of God. I want you all to read it and want to pass my copy off to so many others – but selfishly I want to hold on to it and refer back to it over and over again.

Say what you will about my “lack of self-worth” or my “need for affirmation” but I still need those daily reminders in my life — of the deep, deep love of God — not just for me — but for all mankind.

See a preview of the book via Amazon.

Photo/design by ministrygrowers

I got a copy of a great DVD last week in the mail — Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love.” The DVD is a companion to the book of the same title and is put together as a great resource for small group discussion.

I watched four or five chapters right off the bat and loved the simplicity as well as the quality of the videos. I instantly thought it would be a great resource for our small group in the coming months and I’ve asked all the other community groups at encounter to consider doing the same.

The DVD is broken into 10 chapters, to correlate with the book. In each “chapter” of the DVD, Chan talks about various topics related to the same chapters in the book. The videos then wrap up with several questions for the group to discuss.

Publisher’s Weekly writes about the book:

Chan, senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, Calif., offers a radical call for evangelicals to consider and emulate in this debut guide to living crazy for God. Chan’s own life compels him to live with urgency, and with good reason. His mother died giving birth to him, his stepmother died when he was nine, and his dad when he was 12. As a pastor, Chan says that conducting weekly funerals for people younger than himself has likewise sobered him to life’s unexpectedness and frailty. Chan writes with infectious exuberance, challenging Christians to take the Bible seriously. He describes at length the sorry state of lukewarm Christians who strive for a life characterized by control, safety and an absence of suffering. In stark contrast, the book offers real-life accounts of believers who have given all—time, money, health, even their lives—in obedience to Christ’s call.Chan also recounts his own attempts to live crazy by significantly downsizing his home and giving away his resources to the poor.Earnest Christians will find valuable take-home lessons from Chan’s excellent book.

Just the first few “chapters” on the DVD alone had me re-thinking my relationship with God and how lacking it can be. Chan makes the point early on that he realized as a teenager that his prayers really seemed to be lacking – he never really “prayed to anyone.” His prayers were more about rattling off a list of requests than actually talking with someone.

He shared that as he began to read about the God of Scripture (in places like Revelations 4) and saw the mighty power and majesty of God, he began picturing coming before this mighty God each time before he prayed — it suddenly changed his heart, his mind and his thoughts. Suddenly he was no longer just praying out into space, but he was talking to his creator and God.

I’m looking forward to going through this book/DVD with our group and seeing and hearing what they take from it as well. We’d love to have you come join our discussion in May as well or start a discussion group in your own home. Just drop me an e-mail jonathan.blundell (at) encounterthis (dot) com and we’d love to get you plugged in.

And to get your own copy of the book, Amazon has a copy of the book in paperback, or you can buy the CD/Audio version, the Kindle version or Audible.com has the Mp3 version for your portable player.

Or for more information about the book and DVD visit http://crazylovebook.com/ or read other reviews at http://viralbloggers.com/2009/01/crazy-love-interactive-dvd/

Click here to view the embedded video.

I saw this on a random church website describing their community groups…

Hopefully over the course of the year, our neighborhoods will be blessed by our coming together.

Could we say this about our own individual groups?

Could we make that our goal this year?

Daniel’s Den, Waxahachie Cares, Austin Street, Goodwill etc. etc. etc. are ALL great causes. And I love the stories I hear about folks getting involved and wanting to get involved with each of them.

But what about YOUR neighborhood? Will it be blessed by your family and your group coming together this year? How will your group – no matter what size it may be – how will it bless your neighborhood?

Some ideas ::

• Host a BBQ for your neighbors
• Host a party for the big game and invite your neighbors
• Deliver cookies or small bags of candies to your neighbors
• Plant a community garden
• Work to keep your house and landscaping in top notch condition and help encourage others to do the same — offer to help when they may not be able
• Organize a neighborhood watch
• Stock your freezer with heat and serve lasagnas or soups for when a neighbor gets sick or out of work
• Invite neighbors over for coffee or tea or whatever

I think the key to remember, no matter what it is – don’t do it because you have an agenda. If they ask why you’re doing it, just say “I want to be a better neighbor.”

What other ideas do you have?

Last week Peter Rollins wrote (in the spirit of the Apostle Paul)::

You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither high church nor low church, Fox nor CNN, citizen not alien, capitalist nor communist, gay nor straight, beautiful nor ugly, East nor West, theist nor atheist, Israel nor Palestine, hawk nor dove, American nor Iraqi, married nor divorced, uptown nor downtown, terrorist nor freedom fighter, paedophile nor loving parent, priest nor prophet, fame nor obscurity, Christian nor non-Christian, for all are made one in Christ Jesus. (ht: Existentialpunk)

Today, Thomas shared thoughts on Unity vs Uniformity in our tribes and communities of faith.

I believe wholeheartedly in the “ones” in this passage (Eph 4:1-16):

• one body
• one Spirit
• one hope
• one Lord
• one faith
• one baptism
• one God and Father of all… who is over all and through all and in all.

This is unity… but this doesn’t demand uniformity. The very passage speaks of having different giftings… we are gifted with different things so that we can make a stronger WHOLE than the SUM OF OUR PARTS.

We are all different. We all have different experiences… different baggage… different tastes and preferences and worldviews. This diversity makes the collective whole stronger.

He continued, saying that our communities of faith should not be melting pots where everything is thrown out and the end result is goop, but instead we should be salads — where everything is put together to add value and unique flavor and nutrition.

A carrot by itself is OK but add it with spinach or lettuce and tomatoes and you get a tasty salad. Throw in a few nuts (like most of our communities of faith have ) and you have WOW! All the flavors blend together as one.

Perhaps this is why Jesus prayed for the generations of Christ followers that would come after him ::

I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me. – John 17:20-23

I hope that in all my communities of faith I offer spaces of grace. Where the labels are shed at the door and a space is created where everyone is equal, regardless of where they are in their walk, regardless of what bounded set they find themselves in, regardless how far they are from the center point as long as we’re all helping draw one another to the True Center Point.

We must transition from seeing church as a once-a-week worship event to an ongoing spiritual family on mission together. Then people will see church as something worth giving your life for. Honestly, people need one another more then they need another inspiring message. You would be surprised what people will do for Jesus, or for a brother or sister, that they will not do for a vision statement and a capital giving campaign.

(HT @emergentvillage)

a love like that...

Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth – “you owe me!”
Look at what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.

(HT: the corner)