Building Community

I returned from helping a friend move a few minutes ago. Our whole little community did and although it's never a fun thing to do it's awfully nice to see a microcosm of the Body of Christ all coming together with purpose. I think the equivalent of this back in the day would have been a barn raising or something similar. A community really depended on one another and they all found ways to help because helping was for the good of all. I like that. It feels right.

There's more to it though. Jason and Sandy felt that God wanted them in this area for a couple of years now and it was a real journey to get from where they were to where they are. They felt like they were supposed to be here because of the mission God put in their heart and as I drove away from their beautiful new home I thought about all the people on their new street. Then of course I started thinking about all the people on my new street. Isn't it ironic how we don't really know too many of the people on our own street or living in the same building as we are? Perhaps we only casually know the people we spend time with at work every day. I don't know why but that doesn't seem to perfectly fit.

When I was a kid I'd do everything I could to blaze through my chores. I'd throw things under my bed, hide them in the closet and cram the dresser full just to give the illusion of a clean room. My dad would look the whole thing over and make me do it right. He'd say, "Brian, don't you realize that you've expended the same amount of effort to do this wrong as it would have taken to do it right?" And at that point it was going to take me twice as long because I had to undo what I'd already done.

This kind of applies to our personal interaction with those within our reach. How much more effort is it actually going to take to develop a more intimate and trusting relationship with someone than it does to talk about the weather? We spend time with people every day without the slightest sense that we are representing the Kingdom and that Jesus sincerely wants them to be a part of it.

So as Jason and Sandy move into their new home I pray they become a beacon of pure light to the community. I pray that we all take the challenge to simply make the effort to lay the groundwork to build relationships. Eventually the seeds planted will produce a harvest. Your smile everyday or words of kindness beyond the superficial will eventually yield trust and that trust will lead to Christ. Everything we do matters.

Onward Comrades,