Community

From what I can tell, one of the big buzz words in the postmodern church right now is community. Perhaps the word has been buzzing for a while and I just started to hear it, but it seems as though every author I read has something to say about it and every sermon I hear mentions its benefits. Shane Claiborne has quite a bit to say about community, as does Mike Cope. I've heard more definitions of what community really means than I know what to do with, but over the last few months I have actually managed to conjure up a definition of my own of what community means to me.

My definition has no words-- not my own, anyway. My definition has come through experience. Through hugs. Through text messages. Through Facebook. Through contributions. Through questions. Through interest. Through the birthday/going away party my roommates threw for me tonight.

My community is the people who have cried with me in my sadness, confusion, and disappointment. They are the ones who have encouraged me to not give up. They are the ones who unquestioningly believe that "it's all going to work out," and make sure to tell me so. They are the ones who don't cease to be friends with me, even when I'm being irrational. :) They have offered to pray for me, with me, and over me. They have spoken godly words of wisdom and encouraged me to take even the slightest of positive events as signs of God's approval and delight.

I think the beauty of community (other than the fact that those two words rhyme...) is that, of the qualities I just described, they all have been effortless. My community did not make the decision to be encouraging, they just encouraged. They did not choose to share my tears, they just cried.

My community has shown me what it means to live in 1 Corinthians 13, always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, and always persevering.