Community

"People can find the good in just about anything but themselves." Jeff from the new TV show Community has wisdom.

Had a conversation this afternoon with a friend about community. Over the years, as one grows up, you start seeing the cliques you were a part of, or not a part of, and how lame (or cool) they were. I feel like junior high and high school were made up of people groups embodied by the characters in The Office. That's as far as I'm going with that. [In that vein, I realized also that I've been in college for four years. That's as long as I was in high school. Weird! Anyhow.]

We're made up of misfits. And we need each other. More than we realize. But... I'm awfully scared of community. I don't want people to get in the way of my plans, know my secrets, or give me godly advice. It messes me up. "We would much rather live in the squalor that we do know than face the pang of change to make us better." Yeah, man. I don't want someone to know better than me. Oh humility, what a frustrating paradox you can be sometimes.
People are annoying.
People forget to do things.
People chew with their mouths open.
People get their noses into your business.
People like to sometimes talk about themselves.

Heck, so do I.

But I see that we're better together. As Jack Johnson so eloquently puts it. Jesus knows we're better together. That's probably why His father created more than one of us. And we're also better together when He's the center and we back out of the inner circle and watch what He can do with other broken pieces. He sees that our broken talents and agendas fit together to make some pretty cool communities to praise and love Jesus. And I'm okay with that. But who cares? It's not about me.



I have a love-hate relationship with this verse right now. Love is ...last? Hey, so let's start somewhere...

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Second Peter, 1/5-9