There is nothing simple about community - it is an organic creation that is always in flux, for we can only get out of community what we dare to put into it. Take worship for instance. Worship could just be a place where you go once a week and sneak out of without interacting with another person. Or worship could a community, a fellowship where you grow with other believers. Worship could be all about having your needs met, or it could be a place where you share yourself entirely, a place of sorrow and celebration.
The Christian community has much higher ideals to live into then some other communities that exist, because we are placed together in order to build up the Kingdom of God. We are a place that is to live into God's ideas for community. Perhaps that is why I sometimes am troubled by signs that say "All are welcome here" in front of churches. I desperately want that to be true of the local church with that sign, because it is true of God - all are welcome to God. Yet, I've seen too many church communities that have become exclusive - too many church communities that turn others away that are not like them.
We are tasked as Christian community with reflecting the heart of God in the world. How has the spiritual practice of community impacted your life?
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