True Community Begins With One Guy

It seems kind of obvious. But it’s not.

Most people are hungry for community. They want to be accepted. They want to be loved. They want to be supported. They want to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.

But if you look at any successful community, you will find one brave soul. This guy (or lady) wanted what everyone else wanted, but instead of looking around for a community that would serve him, asked a different question: “What will it take to make a community?”

Now the hard part probably wasn’t the sacrifice, though there would be plenty of that.  The hard part was the fear: Fear of rejection, fear of being ignored, even fear of being successful. True community, real community only happens by becoming vulnerable. And vulnerability is scary. Real scary.

So the start of every true community is one person who decides to push past the fear. They make themselves vulnerable and in doing it they provide the freedom for others to do the same. Sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, people gather and begin to share in the vulnerability that this first person was brave enough to express. Jesus Himself modeled this for us. In the end it cost Him everything, but He left behind a community called the church which changed the path of civilization as we know it.

I believe God is looking for people like this all over the earth who do this for friends, family, and neighbors.  Centered around the Gospel of Jesus and the reality that God has welcomed them as sons and daughters, they turn and invite others to a table, to a family, and to a relationship that will last longer than eternity.

Maybe, just maybe, if you could get past the fear, that might be you…

Photo Credit: Lonely Traveller by Sanoop