A friend told me today that a mutual friend had decided to leave our church community to pursue a likely destructive relationship with someone she met not long ago. This girl came to us in a broken state and we've all witnessed her healing and transformation as a person. To hear now that she decided to leave the community who loves her to venture out on her own is heartbreaking.
A little over 5 years ago, my family embarqued on an adventure with several friends who wanted to see a new church in the city of Conroe, Texas. Many of us were from the mother church, the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Spring. We were joined by others from the surrounding area around Conroe. Within no time - it seems anyway - we were a thriving church. Five years later I pause to look back and I'm amazed by what we've seen together. In telling our story to people outside of our church, many have made the comment "it sounds like you've joined a cult."
One of the biggest lessons I've learned while being yoked with this group of people has been the value of Christian Community. I've been in the church my entire life. I've seen the good, bad and ugly that church life can afford. Over the last year or so, I've even seen a lot of ugly within my own life and within my family. Still somehow, I find myself hanging around, wanting to be part of this thing. It's so strange. It's possibly the only thing that made me want to hang on when things seemed their worst. I know I've not experienced the same bond in other circles that I've been part of.
From the beginning of our experiment (as I like to call it), our pastor talked about the necessity of community. It's been the emphasis of our parent organization, the Vineyard Association of Churches for nearly as long as our church has existed. In today's world, people are looking to be connected to someone or something that is bigger than themselves. Whether it's an extended family, membership in some sort of organization or club - or even a gang - people want to belong somewhere. Now, after hearing this message for the last 5 years, I think it's finally taken hold. I can't imagine my life outside of our church. The rest of my family feels the same. We've shared a lot with this group of people. Like most things, the shared experiences serve to bind everyone even closer together.
Many of us live down the street and around the corner from each other. As I understand, we have some 30 or so families within 5 miles of our church. That's pretty close by anyone's standards. Of course, building such a tight-knit community means people get to know each others' secrets, weaknesses and very often failures too. At times, such a thing can be over- whelming. We all want our space and our privacy. The trouble is that we can waste away in secrecy. Community, in its truest sense, doesn't seek to exploit weakness but protect it and apply healing there. The skeptic might not believe that he can be healed by such an ordinary instrument as the community around him. As one who's been wounded and is now on the mend, it's simply a wonder to behold.
Now that I'm on my way to the "other side" from the "being healed" to joining the ranks of the "wounded healers," my mind continually goes to my friend. She is dearly loved and will be truly missed within our community. What can we do for her now? What are we supposed to do? You see, it's not about laying blame or giving correction anymore. No. It's about rescuing one of our own. It's doing something that Jesus did and would do. Community isn't just a cup of coffee, as we've often said around our church. This is where the rubber meets the road. Community is like an extended family and family doesn't give up on each other.
So, how valuable is community? Or what is community worth? It's invaluable in my estimation. In times like these, we can show how valuable it is for the benefit of everyone else.
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