community

Note: I actually wrote this post yesterday (Saturday, February 11) while sitting a coffee shop. I didn't have my computer with me, so had to post it later.

Community...
We desire it and yet at the same time we run from it.
We love it and at the same time fear it.
We look for places that have it and also try to avoid the places that have it.
A paradox exists. We know we need it, desire it, seek it. But we've also been hurt by it and so we fear it, run from it, and avoid it.

Community...
The church should have a corner on the market for it, but our pews are often full of people who feel isolated and alone as they go through life. I've been one of those people at times in my life. Even though the culture we live in tells us we don't need it, deep down we know we really do need others in our lives. Coffee shops thrive on creating that space where people feel like they belong, but the church - the family of God - struggles to provide this for those in the pews on a weekend sometimes. It makes me wonder: Are we missing something that the coffee shops around us have? Is this an area where we can learn something from our culture?

As I write this, I'm sitting in a coffee shop (the place where I usually do my best thinking) and I've been watching people come and go for the last couple of hours. People from all walks of life, from all classes of society have walked through the doors. They have all been welcome here. They have come for a place to study, to write, to read, to chat with friends. Or simply to get a coffee and leave to continue with the activities of their days. No one has told anyone in their time here, whether a few minutes or a few hours, that they don't belong or they have to do something specific to be able to stay.

It makes me wonder if somehow we could apply something about this to our churches. Not because we are incapable of creating community - we do create it sometimes. But, maybe there is something we can do better. And maybe we can learn from a place in our culture that seems to be doing well at making everyone feel welcome and like they belong.

What would happen of we allowed people to feel like they had people who were their community before they became a Christian? What if they were allowed to belong first? Not that we would not continue to share with them and point them to Christ, but that we would welcome them in first. Would that change people's perceptions of the kind of community the church can create?

And for those already in our pews who are feeling isolated and alone, are there things we can do to help them feel like they belong? What if we reached out to them and loved them even if they couldn't or wouldn't give anything back at first? What if we made an effort to just include those are sitting near us in church in our after church plans for lunch or coffee? I know when I was one of these people in church each weekend, the way I began to feel like I wasn't alone again was because a couple of people just invited me to join them a few times. And once I felt like I had those people who cared I felt like I belonged and I was able to turn around and offer that same thing to other people.

Community...
We desire it. How do we learn to do it well, so we don't run from it despite desiring it?
We love it. How do we move past our fear of it that comes with our love of it?
We look for places that have it. How do we create places that have it that we actually want to be a part of, so we stop running from the places that have it?

He calls me holy

He calls me holy

Sacred, set apart

Made to bring Him glory

Regardless of my past

He has a plan for me

A plan to bring Him glory

He calls me holy

Beloved child of His

Made to bring Him glory

Called to do great things

Called to change my world

All to bring Him glory

I have an enemy

Who seeks to destroy me

To declare me unholy

To make me believe

I can't bring Him glory

To keep my useless

Down and defeated

He calls me holy

Though I've failed

Treated the holy as unholy

My past forgiven

My life redeemed

All to bring Him glory

He calls me holy

Sacred, set apart

Made to bring Him glory

Great things He has in store

If only I will trust Him

And give my life to bring Him glory

We have a God who does declare us to be holy in His sight. We are set apart as special for His service. But, we also have an enemy (Satan) who desires to destroy us and he knows that one of the easiest ways he can do this is to get us to treat what is holy (us) as unholy. When Satan gets us to do this, he can get to think that makes us unholy for the future as well. The good news is that God offers forgiveness and He will redeem us and make us holy again. God declares us holy!

i resolve

I'm doing Beth Moore's study on Daniel with a group of ladies from my church. We spent a fair bit of time talking about the word resolve. Daniel 1:8 begins with the words: "But Daniel resolved..." Daniel made a decision about how he would do things and what was acceptable. And he followed through on it, because he resolved to do it, not just thought it might be a good thing to do. As I was reflecting on this idea of resolving to do something, I found myself writing a poem about it.

I resolve: I will live for Him

He sets the standards I will follow

The world around me

Will not snare me

I will live a life set apart

A life that shines a light

I resolve: I will not be defiled

By a world that wants to change me

A world that wants me to conform

My mind will not be warped

By influences trying to confuse me

Satan will not have my life as his

I resolve: I will live for Him

My life is not my own - my life belongs to Him

No matter what may come my way, it's His and His alone

No other thing will hold my heart

He is the One who captured it

And He will hold forevermore

As I think about the decision that Daniel made in the situation he was in, it seems to me that it would be one not taken lightly and made on the fly. Daniel had to decide firmly in his mind that this is how he would live or he never would have been able to stand in the situation he found himself in. We need to do the same for the situations we may find ourselves in.