IS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IRRELEVANT?

I wonder where I first learned about acceptance and community. I imagine that it was not in school as there was a clear, defined social-economic divide even after school uniforms were brought in for the goal of diminishing the chasm. I also believe that it was not the small liberal arts college I attended in Southwest, Virginia as the Mason Dixon Line was still a very alive issue for people. I also do not believe it was being part of the Greek system in college as we handpicked the young women we wanted to be part of our organization.

I believe that amongst all of these things there was community present, yet the idea of community being a place for all people was clearly not present. Therefore, there must be different types of community.

Community that we are placed.
Community we choose to be a part of
Community that is inclusive for all

I am left wondering then, is it inept human desire to be part of community? Can we begin to have a debate that community is also an issue of nature versus nurture?

I want to believe that community is all something that we want. We want to belong. We want to be part of something bigger, but then again, maybe that is just me. Research shows that that one of the most prominent communities in my life, my many and unique faith communities, is not the type of community that our culture is seeking. Yet this does not mean they are not seeking religion, spirituality or God.

When we state we are in the search of something larger in the world, the larger spirituality question, is cultural seeking God without the community? And can this be associated with the shift from ethical issues in our lives have moved from questions of Christianity to moral issues, for example sexuality, ecology issues, abortion, etc.

Interestingly enough, a study by Barna stated that twenty somethings were nearly 70% more likely than older adults to strongly assert that if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will.” This is part of the shift that is making issues of Christianity into issues of moral reasoning.

These individuals are also less likely to state that, “a person’s faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church.”

Yikes! What does this stay. I agree that this is a reality, but I also believe there is something else going on. Being present in three urban congregations, I know that things are different. I know that there is something unique about being Christian in community and would even go as far as to say that you cannot be Christian by yourself. Yet I also agree that there is something special about being the church in the city. Does everyone get it? Oh, no. We cannot go that far. (But I wish I could.)

I am proposing that as we read statistic after statistic stating that church is irrelevant, it’s not. I am going to explore some communities in the city that can tell us something unique about being in the city, as well as being community.