Vulnerable Community

Silence.

They all stared out the window across the room.

No one dared to break the silence. No one knew what to say.

The longer they say, the more awkward the silence became.

Eventually someone would have to speak. Someone would have to break the silence.

But, what does someone say?

The best responses would require vulnerability. Do any of them want to take that chance? Can they trust the others in the room?

Finally, someone broke the silence. Took the risk of being vulnerable.

That's all it took for others to share. For a safe place to be vulnerable with each other. A place where they could really love each other. A place where they could celebrate together and mourn together.



I've been reflecting a lot recently on the importance of having safe people in our lives where we can be vulnerable. Places where we can turn at our best and at our worst and find love, support, encouragement, and challenge when we need it.

It's become a bit over-used and lost of some of its impact, but that doesn't reduce the need for us to have real community with other believers. We were made for it and we can't live the full life God created us for without it.

The importance of community has been something I've become more accutely aware of in my own life recently. In the last year and a bit, I have relied on the community I've built in my life in a way I haven't in the past. And I've never been more grateful for them than I am now.

I'm talking about the type of community that comes from just doing life together. From sharing the good and the bad of life together. Those people you can laugh with and cry with.

Do you have the community in your life?

Are you investing in it?

Are you willing to seek it?