God Created Us for Authentic Community

If you follow Jesus, you are never alone. Not only is Jesus always with you, but you are also a member of his forever family, also known as the body of Christ.

The body of Christ calls for a kind of connectedness that most of us long for but may also mistakenly resist. As a member of Jesus’ family (aka the church), we are individually “members of one another,” Paul reminds us in Romans 12:5: “so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”

Being a Member of the Body of Christ Isn’t Like Club Membership

Tim Keller points out that this membership is not like being a member of a club. Instead, he explains that “Paul is saying, ‘You are the limbs and organs of one another. You are the eyes, arms, and heart of one another.’ We are profoundly interdependent…. Christians are not an aggregation of individuals but a coherent organism, with each member playing his or her part and deeply, integrally connected to the rest” (Gospel in Life Study Guide: Grace Changes Everything).

So I am your heart. You are my eyes. And because we share one body,

• when I cry, you taste my tears;

• when you are cold, I shiver;

• when I am afraid, your heart races;

• when you succeed, my heart leaps for joy.

To live in this way, you can’t consider yourself self-sufficient. You and I must be vulnerable to each another, sharing our sorrows, struggles, needs, and joys. We don’t think of ourselves as better than others and thus treat them with contempt, nor do we think of ourselves as less than others and thus resent them. We love one another as Jesus loves us.

We listen, we affirm, we appreciate, we encourage, we honor, we forgive, we share, we help, we serve, we instruct, and we challenge one another.

Community Isn’t About Similarities

What binds us together, however, is not our similarities. In fact, Don Carson, author of Love in Hard Places, suggests that “the church is … made up of natural enemies.” He writes, “What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together … because they have all been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance …. They are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.”

As I think about those who live and love well in community, I remember St. Benedict, who created what became known as The Rule of Benedict for the monks of his monastery in sixth century Italy.

He wrote that his intent was to “set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and safeguard love.”

To safeguard love.

What a rule to live by! Just imagine our relationships if, before we spoke or we acted, we would ask ourselves, “Am I safeguarding love?”

Are You Safeguarding Love in a Community?

As the followers of Jesus and members of one another, we are indeed charged with safeguarding love in a community. That requires loving with both our heart and our head, or loving fully, which includes “a little strictness.”

Paul was such a safe-guarder of love. As he established new communities of believers, he loved them with all of his heart and told them so. But he also taught them to hold one another accountable to all that Jesus said about how we are to live.

That’s how a community of Jesus followers is the body of Christ. We give the best, we expect the best—and we help one another along the journey.

If you’re not part of such a community, find a small group to join or start one. The Christian life is meant to be lived out together.