Community time
We had some snacks, cupcakes and conversation in place of our usual gathering on Sunday. It was great. We were celebrating Father’s Day, Miriam and Beth’s birthdays and our community life together.
I am a great believer in community – not just this little community at The Distillery, but that too! Let’s start with a definition of community (adapted from Kathy Escobar of The Refuge in Colorado who a couple of our community were visiting while we were eating cupcakes!):
Community is learning to love God, love one another and love ourselves. Allowing ourselves to be loved by God, be loved by one another and to accept that we are lovable.
Of course, in other contexts, the ‘God’ clauses might disappear or change, but I suspect in some way the rest of it would stand. I have a sense that if we embrace true community in this way and open it to include as many as we possibly can, we will do more to bring God’s kingdom as Jesus intended it than any amount of arguing about theology or worrying about what is or is not sin or about who is in or out of the kingdom.
I read somewhere recently that if you pray without seeking to be the answer to your own prayer, you are not truly praying as a Christian. That was a challenge to me. It reminded me of a conversation I had at college. I was a proudly evangelical Christian with all the answers talking to the relatively liberal chaplain of our college chapel. He dismissed the idea that prayer could change what God did. My reaction on the inside was “What’s the point of praying if it doesn’t change anything?” but also, deeper inside, ‘Now you mention it, it does seem strange that my prayer could change God’s intentions.’
I suppose the polarized sides of this debate boil down to “What’s the point of a God who is swayed by mere human desires?” vs “What’s the point of praying if God has already made up his mind?” So, shall we argue until we all agree (or fall out) or shall we get on with praying, having faith and acting in love? These principles of Jesus transcend theological arguments.
We don’t have to agree on all the theology to be in community together. We just have to get on with it. In love.
3 Comments to “Community time”
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By John, June 22, 2010 @ 9:38 pm
I disagree theologically with this post.
. Just kidding. Actually, I love it. Thanks for sharing!
By Lesley, June 23, 2010 @ 1:32 am
I work on the basis that prayer changes me and I change things… bit about it here
By Martin, June 23, 2010 @ 6:29 am
Thanks guys. I honestly don’t know where I stand on how prayer works – but I still pray.
“Prayer changes me, I change things.” makes a lot of sense – it’s clear that that happens and that it is a good thing, but then I have the dream that led to a conversation that led to prayer that led to a situation completely turning around. I don’t believe that I strong-armed God to change what he was doing, but I certainly believe that praying was the right thing to do and I thank God that the situation was transformed.
Most of all I value the fact that our little community has differences of opinion on things like this and don’t have to pretend that we all agree in order to be accepted into community or into leadership.