We are saved into community. Yes, we’re also saved into forgiveness of sins and into a right relationship with Jesus. And more. But this is not either-or. Among the many things we are saved into is community.
And one of the truly big mistakes the church has made for quite some time is to emphasize conversion into salvation to the near exclusion of conversion into community.
Take, for example, the 5-step Plan of Salvation: “hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized.” Not a word about the church. Not a word about community.
Yes, there have been plenty of sermons preached on the importance of the church, with lots of verses quoted regarding the church. But nearly all have proceeded from the premise that church membership and attendance are commands that we must obey in order to please God — which is like saying to your child, “You must be a part of this family and live at home because I hereby command it!”
True enough, I suppose, but it really misses the point of being family. Indeed, if the only reason you were a member of your family is because of your father’s command, well, that would be one messed up family! And yet we preach and act as though church — being part of a community of believers — is an obligation, a pain which must be suffered to gain a heavenly reward. And that’s just as wrong as wrong can be.
You see, God loves us. He didn’t create the church to test our faith (not that it doesn’t!), but because it’s what’s best for us. The church was designed to be a blessing to its members. Of course, “the church” isn’t the institution or the leaders; it’s the members. So to say that “the church was designed to be a blessing to its members” is exactly the same thing as saying “Christians were saved to be a blessing to other Christians” and that we do this through an organization we call “church.”
We are commanded to serve and to love, as we’ve covered in previous posts, but you really can’t serve and love in a truly real way unless you are part of a community. You can only love and serve those you have contact with — and the closer and more intimate that contact, the more opportunity there is to serve and to love.
Jesus, while on earth, lived in community. It’s not that he needed others so much as he needed to serve and love others. He needed to train and mentor others. He needed to be more than an individual can be. He needed to be a part of a community — even though he was God in the flesh.
Just so, God in heaven lives in community. God exists in three persons, existing in community. God does not exist or love or serve solo. He is a community.
We were saved to become like God.
(Lev 19:2 ESV) 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
(Eph 5:1 ESV) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
And people who are like God are people in community. Indeed, God created man in community.
(Gen 1:26-27 ESV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Notice, that God is spoken of as a plural being for the first time (“us”) in the same sentence where God creates man in his “image” and “likeness.” And so God creates “them” and he creates plural man as male and female. God existing in community creates man in his image and therefore in community.
When God begins to work his redemptive plan in Abraham, he begins with a married couple — Abraham and Sarah and then builds a nation, which he calls a “congregation” throughout Deuteronomy.
(Deu 31:30 ESV) Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly (LXX: ekklesia) of Israel:
Every time we read “congregation” or “church” in the New Testament, we should recall the children of Israel in the desert, being led by God in a column of fire, toward the Promised Land — all proceeding as a single church. God’s redemptive plan places his people in community.
Restoration
During the Exile, God’s prophets spoke of the coming “restoration.”
(Jer 30:3 ESV) 3 For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”
(Jer 30:9-10 ESV) 9 But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 10 “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid.
(Jer 30:18-22 ESV) 18 “Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the palace shall stand where it used to be. 19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, and the voices of those who celebrate. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. 20 Their children shall be as they were of old, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all who oppress them. 21 Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the LORD. 22 And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
God promised to restore his people as a “congregation” (ESV) or “community” (NIV). God’s promise is also to raise up his prince — the Messiah — as ruler over his community or congregation.
God’s plan is corporate. Of course, there is an individual element, but we tend to overlook the community element. God saves “my people,” and he is the God of that people. We are saved by becoming a part of the people of God. That is, the people of God isn’t so much the set of all saved people, as saved people are those who are part of God’s people.
This means that God’s people — his nation, his kingdom — are at the heart of salvation. We are saved when we are added to his kingdom, his congregation.
(Hos 2:23b ESV) And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.'”
(Heb 8:10 ESV) 0 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Therefore, being a part of God’s congregation, the church, is much more than merely being among the saved. We are saved into a community. You see, it’s only in community where we can truly be in God’s image and likeness. To be restored to what we were always meant to be means being in community.
Therefore, it’s by no means adequate to be a member of a congregation but to live a life as a solitary individual or family. The community of God is your new family, and without that family, you cannot be like God. Indeed, you can’t love and serve as you are called to do.
And that means you can’t enjoy the happiness and joy that God made you to have. You can’t have the encouragement and support of the Christ-like, God-like church. Indeed, you can’t be restored to the image of God, to be the person God created you to be.
Great stuff! Keep it coming.
How does an introvert fit into a community?
Can there be a community of individuals?
How does an introvert fit into a community?
Can there be a community of individuals?
Rick,
Speaking as a certified introvert: Yes, introverts can be in community.
The key, I think, is to be involved in a cooperative work. The best way to enter community and the best friends are made through side-by-side service.
Whether is volunteering in the nursery or doing mission work as part of a team, working with others toward a common goal creates the best kind of community.
Therefore, for example, it's not really enough for our small groups just to meet. They have to have a purpose larger than themselves to truly form a community. And as our communities become more missional — more focused on something bigger than themselves — they become better, richer, deeper communities.
Thanks for the reply Jay. I appreciate your intelligent and thought provoking articles.
I will explain a little further what is behind my previous post.
It seems that a lot of times in a Church community the will of the extrovert collective tends to dominate the introverted individual, putting pressure on them to sign up to activities which they have determined to be the true and valid Christian service. If you are not involved in one of one of these collective ordained activities then you are deemed a consumer rather than a contributor. Often when the focus is on community I hear Individualism being denounced as anti-Christian, and introversion often is overlooked or considered immature. You’re simply not allowed to just come into an assembly to be with your fellow Saints. You must always be doing something in order to be considered a valid member of the community. However If I understand the scriptures correctly there is no such thing as a Christian who is not part of the Body. And all parts are important because it is God who made them and put them together. This would include both the qualities of the introverted individual contributors as well as the extroverted motivational collective.
Rick,
I'm likely not entirely following you, I suspect. I'll answer a couple of points you make expecting that you'll need to correct me once I do.
* You wrote, "You're simply not allowed to just come into an assembly to be with your fellow Saints."
* You wrote, "You must always be doing something in order to be considered a valid member of the community."
Well, it depends on what you consider "doing something." To me, the command to love your brother is fulfilled through action.
(1Jo 3:18 ESV) 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
(Gal 5:13 ESV) For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
That doesn't mean you have to perform a service during the assembly. It may be serving your brothers at other times of the week. It may be that you serve your neighbors or work at a soup kitchen or volunteer to cut grass for a elderly woman.
My congregation has many members who are very introverted — men and women who could never stand before a class to teach — and yet they are some of our greatest servants, applying their talents to the work of the Kingdom in countless, quiet ways.
They struggle to engage in fellowship activities, but they pour their hearts into their work for Jesus — and I'm confident he's very pleased with their service.