Real Community

What an incredible joy to be a part of a local church where God's love and grace reaches a crescendo in the everyday lives of people. As we continued the theme of Thanksgiving this past Sunday, it was wonderful to hear so many people express (both corporately and individually) how thankful they are for others in the church who have cared for them and loved them during difficult times in their life over the past year.

Besides providing encouragement to the entire church Body, it served as a vivid reminder that we as humans were created to function as part of a community. All the way back in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 when God created the earth and everything in it, He proclaimed everything to be "good" except for one thing. He said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." (Gen. 2:18) God designed us to need each other.

We all have needs that can only be met when we are experiencing true community. Why do you think Starbucks and other coffee shops have been so successful? No, it's not because people love spending $5 bucks for a venti, double, mocha, extra hot, vanilla, latte. As Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, describes in his book, Pour Your Heart into It, “People didn’t know they needed a safe, comfortable, neighborhood gathering place. They didn’t know they would like Italian espresso drinks. But when we gave it to them, the fervor of their response overwhelmed us.” The local coffee shop in some small way satisfies our longing to be a part of a caring community that can share in our burdens, share in our life. Unfortunately, the "community" offered at the local coffee shop is nothing more than a counterfeit of the local church. Even more unfortunate is the fact that if the local church was doing its job, there would be no need for the counterfeit coffee shop "community."

Even as the many expressions of thanksgiving echos in our ears; may those same echos spur us on toward love and good deeds. It must begin there if we as the Church are going to correctly represent Christ to the watching world. If Howard Schultz was overwhelmed by the response of people desiring to experience "community" in the coffee shop, imagine how people would respond to a local church who offered true acceptance, true hope, true love....true community! Ultimately, that God will be glorified through the impact and growth of His Church.

Running with Perseverance

As you probably saw in the news last week, a Northwest Airlines flight with 149 people on board flew 150 miles past their destination in Minneapolis, MN. The exact events that led up to this major mistake by the pilots are still shrouded in mystery, but the most recent claim is that the pilots were using their laptops and became “distracted” from flying the plane. Thankfully, the plane had enough fuel to turn around and safely land in Minneapolis.

It is hard to imagine a more dangerous situation in which to become distracted than that of piloting an aircraft with so many lives in the balance. Yet, as followers of Christ we are often guilty of being “distracted” from living the life we are called to live - this is a far greater mistake than that of the airline pilots. The writer of Hebrews calls us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” by fixing “our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (12:1,2). It is my prayer that as we move forward in ministry together as the Body of Christ, we will keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus by growing in our knowledge of Him and practically showing His love to those around us. May we not crawl, walk, stumble or fall, but RUN together with perseverance.