Community

I was recently listening to a sermon by American Pastor, Bill Clem. He provided a whole lot of insight to community for me.

He suggests that as humans we are anti-community at the core. Our culture and society has driven us to a place where we are self indulged to a point where we are more obsessed about proving our own point then being part of a team. Community is about prefering someone elses welfare at the expense of our own.

I thought that community was entirely about being together and having a good time... which to a certain extent it is. But more often then not as an extrovert I am romanticised by the thought of being in community... until... I read a bit more about it.

Bill says this amazing quote in his sermon which went KaPow to me...

Community is not Mirror Friendship!

He then goes on to say Community is built between hearts that are redeemed and redeeming, transformed and transforming, loving and loved.

So often I think Community is about being with the people who are like me, in the same place as me, who like the things that I like and get annoyed at the things I get annoyed about. But thinking about the multifaceted nature of community is such a beautiful picture and perhaps what makes it so attractive but also so difficult.

Henri Nouwen says living in community means living with the people that you would least like to live with!

Thinking about community... you cant be in community without other people... but also you arent demonstrating any characteristics of community if the people that you are with are exactly the same as you... for example you cant demonstrate patience if there is no one in your community who is frustrating or annoying. Interesting thought!

In my heart I get excited by community about the possibilitys... the beauty... imagine if we began prefering other peoples welfare rather then feeding our selfish nature. But I know that my heart is far far away from this...

Sermon: Its all about Community... By Bill Clem