Shared commitments and other frightening thoughts

13 May 2009 | Ryan Bell

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What is the nature of Christian community?

It is difficult to define and quantify but I think most life long Christians will know it when they see it, or, more accurately in this case, experience it. But I suspect that what we think of as authentic community is still something far short of what is possible; something M. Scott Peck might have called “pseudo-community.”

One of the most pleasant things I ever hear said about our church in Hollywood is that it is a place of authentic community. Just this week I got an email from someone I’ve never met. Here are a few excerpts while maintaining the author’s anonymity:

Hello Pastor Bell : )

I am a [insert occupation] who is currently here in Anytown, USA….

For the past few years I've been out here trying to put down…roots and its [sic] been pretty difficult. While I'm not at the point of "giving up" my pursuit, I have been thinking on and off about relocating to a place that might be a better fit for [me]...

But more than that, I have really struggled to find a sense of community at any church here. I've visited just about every one of them, but I just haven't been able to click at any.

A friend of mine attended your church a few years back, and has suggested that I move back to CA, try the LA…scene, and attend your church. My friend said that your church had a real sense of community.

I get a lot of emails like this, but no matter how many I get, I’m always surprised. What does this mean, exactly, I wonder. What is it that people experience in one visit to our church that leads them to tell someone else that there was a “real sense of community?”

The past few weeks, during Eastertide, we’ve been in 1 John. Specifically, the past two weeks we’ve been working with 1 John 3:16-24 and 4:7-21. These texts, written to the fledgling Christian communities in Asia Minor, hold up a high ideal of Christian community. In 1 John 3:16, 17 we read,

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

I asked the congregation whether they thought this was a good measure of love and authentic community. What if this test were applied to Christian churches everywhere? Again and again in scripture we are confronted with this theology: the sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ, is not only personally redemptive but corporately normative for our life in the world. In other words, the cross not only saves us, but models for us the way of life to which we are called – open, sacrificial and risky.

The following week we encountered ideas like,

Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister* whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also (4:20, 21).

Instead of a normal sermon, this week we divided the congregation into five groups, roughly corresponding to the qualities of community depicted in these passages (Trinitarian, fearless, forgiving, incarnational and Eucharistic). We asked the groups one question: “If we were to take this vision of Christian community seriously here in Hollywood, what shared commitments would we need to make?” The results were remarkable. One group even dared to ask the question, based on 1 John 3:17, what if we paid off each other’s debt? Some were fearful of the “socialist” implications of John’s vision. Others thought it was precisely what is called for in our individualistic, consumerist culture.

This week we are pressing into this even deeper. 1 John 5 talks about obedience to God’s commandments. “Obeying commandments” and “shared commitments” are scary things in a culture that despises both sharing and commitment. And commandments, well…that’s just out of the question. I’m not sure where this is going, but I know that my congregation is already well down the road to understanding what this will entail.

In spite of the uncertainty, one thing seems clear. We cannot set out to “create community” as so many church planters and well-meaning pastors aim to do. Community is not something that can be addressed directly. Rather, community forms when a group of people discovers that their journey to God is bound up with the others that God has placed in their lives. We don’t so much create community so much as we create the conditions where community can take root and grow. This kind of community is costly in every way.

Trevor Kerr - Wed, 05/13/2009 - 18:41

Hang on. Doesn't the Gospel state explicitly that God accepts us, sinners, exactly where we are? While we are in the womb, the instant before we draw our last breath, and all the space in between.
So, what's this "journey to God"? Hasn't God already made that journey of reconciliation? Maybe "journey to God" is code for our own contrivances, to make our own journeys according to our own concepts of self-improvement?
People who are mobile, educated and articulate are most likely, by definition, not in real need. Needy or lonely, perhaps, but not in need of the physical substance that lays the basis for a good life.
The Christian Community (or any of the millions of subsets) makes itself visible by maintaining a harsh distinction between Them and Us. The They are to be feared, even hated, because they are not Us. But Gospel principles dictate that the Them and Us are under the same umbrella of reconciliation. Call it Community, call it whatever, but defining it by its separatism is a step away from admitting the adopted status of all humanity. It sounds like a cop-out because We cannot cope with the behaviours of Them. OK, that's a simple fact. We do not like, or approve of, a lot of behaviour. But here is where we deal with the World on our concepts of how God works. Is our paradigm for the cosmos one where it is (still) natural for humans to keep falling, inexorably, into bad behaviour because we cannot help ourselves? Or, can we have the courage to believe that God's omnipotence and Love can, through Christ, get through to each and all? (Better leave the option for a mature, thinking person to reject God for another day.)
If the latter, then Who (or What) is in position to act as God's agency? If We are not in the home of a family where dependency on illicit substances is the norm and the driving force for existence, then Who does God send? Is it just bad luck for the children born into that circumstance, or into extreme poverty, or any of the many non-Adventist situations?

Ryan Bell - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 05:46

Trevor,

Good catch. I probably should have said "journey with God" or "journey to holiness" or something like that. But I'm not sure that would have satisfied you either though I think the distinctions is huge and worth fixing for sure.

It seems to me we have terribly confused the gospel in the modern American church. We've made it about how to get individuals into heaven, which makes the rest of our lives here (before we die) more or less irrelevant. But throughout scripture, God is creating a people. This is not about in-groups and out-groups, but about the fellowship and mutual support of people who have accepted God's invitation to live in his kingdom and the witness of that group, by it's alternative life, to a new way of being human.

Renee Hernandez - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 07:51

Tears of joy come to my eyes that I hear your church is creating community. i have tried for 25 years to find this here in SDA-land. Most people would look at me as if I am nuts.Live as ACTs Christians? Spend time with one another? Etc.
Very frustrating...I have gone through a deep crisis period the past 2 years with no one to help or relate to, talk with about it. No one cared. I had to beg and beg to get a ride to a parents weekend at the SDA college my son attended this past year. Then when folks were going again they refused and would not give me the peopl'es phone numbers that they knew were going "Oh we will give your name & if they choose to give you a ride they can call you" No one did....Do I have body odor?(LOL)When i went the first time I kept quiet, I wasn't a backseat driver (lol) Was it because I had camping equipment tent etc & had to camp out on the campus because I couldn't afford a motel room?
I am struggling with a painful disability..trying desparately to make ends meet with SSD & the work I have part time there are days when I am in so much pain just from doing everyday tasks but I move on because if I didn't I my son would be on the streets.
I simply do not understand... I said to a pastor when i was told "you are too needy" I said have I asked you to lay down your life for me? this was after I was recovering from a major surgery, exacerabation of reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and my husband going abusive. all I needed then was transportation to doctor's appointments, food and it would have been real nice to have warm and caring company. I have always been a very independent person capable a survivor gone through much more than this but at this juncture in my life it was overwhelming to me. i want to be a giver not a taker of course & I do give as I am everyday..I look for opportunites to reach & help others in ways I can but I yearn for community. We are made for relationship what does "love one another" mean?

Carrol Grady - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 11:29

When I think of "journey" I think of how my understanding, my picture, of God has grown over my 73 years - as well as how God has been able to change at least some of the selfishness I was born with.

For the last 16 years, I have belonged to a church with a sense of community in Bellevue, WA. I have heard many a visitor remark on the feeling of being a family in our church. It is a place where people of widely varying backgrounds, races, financial status, opinions and tastes in music feel warmth and acceptance and extend that warmth and acceptance to each other. I believe God loves diversity, and the more we can feel that love for others who are different from us, the closer we come to knowing God.

Zane - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 16:29

Ryan,

I'd love to get your thoughts about creating the conditions for community at a church when the population is highly transient, with young adults coming and leaving every 2-3 years.

Is this an issue at Hollywood?

20 somethings flock to urban areas, but seem to move on when they want to "settle down."

Ryan Bell - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 16:54

Zane,

I wish I knew what to say. We've had some mobility but nothing like what I would have expected. There is a part of me (a naieve part, I suppose) that hopes that this generation will be willing to raise their families in the city. I'm struck by how many young families live in a 2-3 mile radius of my church. So far not many of my young adults have settled into family rearing mode, so that phase of our life is in the future. But I think many of our young adults will stay here when they get married. But I could be wrong. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. We've had a remarkable amount of stability in the 4 years I've been here.

Jared Wright - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 19:24

Along with the innovative, interactive sermon, apparently the congregation watched this video, which is so great I had to repost it here. I love it.

God is not a white man:

Bob Helm - Thu, 05/14/2009 - 21:15

Dear Ryan,

Thank you for sharing what your church in Hollywood is doing. You are seeking to live your Christianity in radically authentic ways. You are also setting a great example that other Adventist congregations (and all Christian communities) need to follow. Not that they should be carbon copies of your Hollywood congregation. But God is calling us to really love people and show it by the way we treat them. This is the one way we can make a huge impact on our secular society for Christ.

By the way, there's nothing socialistic about John's vision or about paying off one another's debts. John's counsel is not directed to governments; it's directed to professed disciples of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Bob Helm

Jeff B - Fri, 05/15/2009 - 10:26

Great line: "...community forms when a group of people discovers that their journey to God is bound up with the others that God has placed in their lives. We don’t... create community so much as we create the conditions where community can take root and grow."

Jared, for some reason I can't access the video you posted. Can I find it on YouTube or Tangle?

I understand the turnover issue. My wife and I work to build relationships/community each place we land, but we have moved a lot. This JM article spoke to me -- http://www.jesusmanifesto.com/2009/02/rebellion-as-staying-put/ . Our mobility has led us to want the other extreme of an intentional community (http://www.communityofcommunities.info/ ). May your crew grow deeper roots.

Jeff B - Fri, 05/15/2009 - 10:36

Two books that have caught my attention on this topic-- Beyond Homelessness & Organic Community.

Somewhat related, has anyone read Making Room (Pohl)? Do you recommend it?

Ryan Bell - Fri, 05/15/2009 - 10:43

We talk a lot, in Hollywood, about the spiritual practice of "staying put." We spent the better part of three years dwelling in Luke 10 and that was one of our main learnings. We still struggle to know exactly what it means and when God is calling us to move. One of our members recently felt called to move from her childhood neighborhood in L.A. to Glendale. This didn't require her to leave the Hollywood Church or her job or anything, but even this move caused her much prayer.

I've read Making Room, by Pohl and it's excellent. I HIGHLY recommend it. I'm dying to read Beyond Homelessness. I own it and it's on my shortlist, but haven't read it. I also have Organic Community but haven't read it yet, either. But I'd prioritize the other two over Organic Community.

Jiggs Gallagher - Fri, 05/15/2009 - 13:30

I was a member of Hollywood church for more than five years in the 1980s, and was organist of the church during that time as well. I would say there was tremendous community there, and the amazing feature is that there were (at that time) 38 different nationalities or countries of origin represented, and none was dominant--though I think Filipino was the most numerous (maybe 20 or 25 percent). White people (myself included) were maybe another 15 or 20 percent tops. We all enjoyed each other's company and contributions to church life, and there was surprisingly little friction there. I'm glad to hear that a sense of community is still important 20 years later!

Gaylene - Sat, 05/16/2009 - 02:08

All of us, rich and poor, young and old, healthy and sick, educated and uneducated want to be loved for who we are, flaws and all. Unconditionally. We want someone who cares, who listens, who is willing to become vulnerable with us. That is risky for both sides, but oh so worth it overall. I believe it is the basis for all successful evangelism, it is what keeps people coming to church, it is what encourages us all to reach out further and further, making ourselves unconditionally loving to more and more people. It's catchy. It grows and spreads.

Try it at your church. Let go of your pride. You will be surprised at how many will reach out to you as someone they can trust. After all, if YOU don't have the perfect life they've always perceived you had, maybe they aren't the only ones who are struggling in the sand traps of sin by themselves.

Trevor Kerr - Sat, 05/16/2009 - 19:04

Ryan, I'd like to recommend The development dilemma: Can parking tickets explain why poor countries are poor? by Tim Harford (the Undercover Economist)

The settler-based colonies—New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Australia—eventually became independent, with decent political institutions designed to respect private property and uphold the law. When the tropical economies became independent, their new political systems continued to suck out every cent of short-term gain and funnel it to the men in charge.

We pay dearly for the privileges of maintaining communities of the tertiary-educated and their sons and daughters. The economist could put a dollar figure on costs of lifestyles in terms of GDP. It's been worth it for vaccines and antibiotics, but what about climate-controlled X5s and malaria?
Anne Applebaum wrote in A Panic To Welcome
Without panic, nothing happens. As many as 500 million people will get malaria this year, and more than a million of them will die, mostly in very poor countries. Yet there is no fear of malaria in the rich world, there is no hysterical media coverage, and thus there is still no satisfactory prevention or cure.
And
No one has really worked out the morality of that Tamiflu distribution either: If the United States and Europe distribute their stockpiles to their citizens, then no one in the developing world will get any.

So, take a congregation that's more typical, with a wider cross-section. If the minister asked for the name of the youngest in that group, then asked for a show of hands (or a secret ballot) of whether the people there believed that baby was saved in the Lord, what would be the response? And a subsidiary for the Noes - what payment would they accept to turn their answers to Yes?

Jeff B - Sun, 05/17/2009 - 19:21

Trevor,

I don't quite understand what you're saying about community. Can you help draw the connection for me. Peace, Jeff

Trevor Kerr - Mon, 05/18/2009 - 02:32

OK, Jeff.
A community is bounded according to rules set by the members. Yet, God's love is boundless.
So (it seems to me) we need to be on guard against the rules of exclusion we set for our own convenience. You and I can imagine, or know, how exclusivity operates to the great advantage of some self-defined groups. But God expects enlightened believers to regard all souls as equal under Him.
At least, I think that's what "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged" means. It's a hard saying, though.

Jeff B - Mon, 05/18/2009 - 06:04

Thanks for the clarification, Trevor.

"So (it seems to me) we need to be on guard against the rules of exclusion we set for our own convenience." --Trevor

I very much agree. That is one of the real challenges to building community. The closeness experienced, the closeness the group is committed to, can lead to exclusiveness. The struggle is to build a close, caring community that is inclusive -- accepting of those not yet in the social bond or who are different in important ways from the core community.

And thanks for the recommendations, Ryan. Sounds good.

Ryan Bell - Mon, 05/18/2009 - 07:36

This is a quote I ran across recently that I think bears on this question of inclusivity. I got it from a Quaker friend, but I'm not sure the original source.

To be inclusive does not mean that you try and make your table a place where everyone wants to sit - But it does mean that you try and make a place at your table for everyone who wants to sit there. We are more interested in accessibility than acceptability.

Of course, the classic, must-read on this topic is Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace.

Carrol Grady - Mon, 05/18/2009 - 08:31

Gaylene, I like what you said about being vulnerable. When I began sharing with others about my experience as the mother of a gay son, people with all kinds of trials and difficulties they had never been able to talk about felt safe in talking to me about them.

And thank you, Ryan, for that wonderful Quaker quote. If only our church could practice that toward its gay and lesbian members who so much want to remain with a church that wishes they'd just disappear.

Joann Alexander - Mon, 05/25/2009 - 17:55

1. Campus Hope in Boston is a good example of how SDA's are reaching out to transient students in an urban community.

2. Creating community begins with discovering individuality.

Jamie - Mon, 05/25/2009 - 20:41

Before I left the church I found a congregation that was GREAT at community. It's called "The Living Word" and is in Hamilton, ON, Canada. Even now when I go back for whatever reason (usually to do with my kids who still attend), the people there still treat me like family. I felt the difference the first time I walked through the door there. I'm not sure what created that sense of community...perhaps it had to do with the church being built on cell groups (rather than being an established church later trying to start a cell group program). Whatever they did, it created a good sense of community, I think.