Let's Talk About Community
To be at your most authentic self is to be in the presence of God.
Let's talk about community. Community is supposed to be a safe place you can join with other believers, share experiences, be accountable for one another and worship the Lord together. You connect in a very deep level with others because of the shared spiritual being. Community is talked about all the time in the church. You need to join a small group, a young adult group, a new church, volunteer somewhere. There's a lot of really great things about community.
But here's the thing .. it's not always so great. Being in community is not about yourself. It's about the people you are surrounded by. It can quickly become like a high school where it becomes about clicks, not including others, feeling left out and gossip. God wants authentic people. Not avoiding each other and not feeling included. You should be able to walk into a room and feel welcomed. Y'a'll, its about who you hang out with and invest in on a regular basis, not just showing up on a Tuesday night and not seeing or talking to anyone for another week.
Look, if the people you are hanging out with aren't bringing you closer to God, find different people to hangout with. It takes maturity to have mature community groups. Encourage maturity in Christ.
One of the safest places in all the world for Satan to hide dead souls is in a small group where sin is petted, salvation assumed, and holiness ignored.
Sometimes we think we are Christians because we act like Christians... but the knowledge of God, the love for God, the power of God is not the reality...
We need to wake up to the reality that everything you say and everything you do affects someone else. Be more self aware of yourself. Stop the pettiness and tell someone how you feel. You should feel safe to be able to confront issues with someone. God wants us to be accountable. It's not this lukewarm Christian life where you party on the weekends and attend church on Sunday. You need to be able to ask a friend or pray to God to tell someone, hey, you shouldn't be doing that, or texting that guy or living life like that. I know I struggle at times of feeling jealous.
I've always been someone who is friends with everyone. But I also care a lot about the people in my life and who I invest in. God has blessed me with the gift of mentoring. But you also need people who can invest in you. But I also feel like I'm the last person anyone ever thinks of. No one ever reaches out to me first and asks to hang out or how I am doing. But I always think of everyone else. Life is busy. You decide who you invest your time in. That's the sad reality.
Be more like Jesus, less of yourself. God wants authentic people. Walk out what your not familiar with and ask someone to hangout with your friends group. Text someone to see how they are. Stop avoiding the hard conversations!!! Get that stuff out!!! God made us for community. If your single you need it more. You need people who can pour into your life and tell you that you are loved and cared for. Walk with people. Be intentional please!! Community is so vitally important, and we need each other to get through life.
“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.” -C.S. Lewis
Let's talk about community. Community is supposed to be a safe place you can join with other believers, share experiences, be accountable for one another and worship the Lord together. You connect in a very deep level with others because of the shared spiritual being. Community is talked about all the time in the church. You need to join a small group, a young adult group, a new church, volunteer somewhere. There's a lot of really great things about community.
But here's the thing .. it's not always so great. Being in community is not about yourself. It's about the people you are surrounded by. It can quickly become like a high school where it becomes about clicks, not including others, feeling left out and gossip. God wants authentic people. Not avoiding each other and not feeling included. You should be able to walk into a room and feel welcomed. Y'a'll, its about who you hang out with and invest in on a regular basis, not just showing up on a Tuesday night and not seeing or talking to anyone for another week.
Look, if the people you are hanging out with aren't bringing you closer to God, find different people to hangout with. It takes maturity to have mature community groups. Encourage maturity in Christ.
One of the safest places in all the world for Satan to hide dead souls is in a small group where sin is petted, salvation assumed, and holiness ignored.
Sometimes we think we are Christians because we act like Christians... but the knowledge of God, the love for God, the power of God is not the reality...
We need to wake up to the reality that everything you say and everything you do affects someone else. Be more self aware of yourself. Stop the pettiness and tell someone how you feel. You should feel safe to be able to confront issues with someone. God wants us to be accountable. It's not this lukewarm Christian life where you party on the weekends and attend church on Sunday. You need to be able to ask a friend or pray to God to tell someone, hey, you shouldn't be doing that, or texting that guy or living life like that. I know I struggle at times of feeling jealous.
I've always been someone who is friends with everyone. But I also care a lot about the people in my life and who I invest in. God has blessed me with the gift of mentoring. But you also need people who can invest in you. But I also feel like I'm the last person anyone ever thinks of. No one ever reaches out to me first and asks to hang out or how I am doing. But I always think of everyone else. Life is busy. You decide who you invest your time in. That's the sad reality.
Be more like Jesus, less of yourself. God wants authentic people. Walk out what your not familiar with and ask someone to hangout with your friends group. Text someone to see how they are. Stop avoiding the hard conversations!!! Get that stuff out!!! God made us for community. If your single you need it more. You need people who can pour into your life and tell you that you are loved and cared for. Walk with people. Be intentional please!! Community is so vitally important, and we need each other to get through life.
“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.” -C.S. Lewis
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