Community In Christ

We were created for each other. Community is a very important value in the church of Christ. It is important to the Lord as well. God never intended for us to be an island to ourselves. Community is the bedrock of our faith and was the backbone of the early church. Notice the description of the first century church in Jerusalem: “All the believers meet together constantly and shared everything with each other” Acts 2:44 (LB). In this day of personal isolationism, connecting is more important than ever before. God does not want us to be loners. Paul made this clear when he wrote the church in Ephesus. “You are members of God’s very own family … and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian” Ephesians 2:19 (LB). In many respects it could be argued we are commanded to be connected with each other. Notice the strong language in Paul’s admonition to the Hebrew believers: “Let us not give up the habit of meeting together. Instead, let us encourage one another…” Hebrews 10:25 (TEV). Community is critical if we hope to have a healthy church. It is a natural law that healthy things are productive. If we hope to produce fruit in the church we must get connected. “The whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” Ephesians 4:16 (NLT). How does that sound to you, “Healthy and growing and full of love”? That is what community in the church is all about. As leaders, we are to set the stage for real community to take place by providing an atmosphere where people can connect with other people in the church. The primary goal of each church leader should be to connect people who are pre-Christians to people who are believers so they can be impacted by the lifestyle and testimony of the Christian. We never want to lose sight of this priority.