WEEKLY FOCUS ARCHIVE

Community

April 20, 2005

I had the opportunity, today, to walk through the National D-Day museum with my twelve-year-old daughter. As I walked through the various exhibits the images, videos, memorabilia, and all the history struck me. One of the most impacting exhibits was the "bomb" room. In this wing of the museum you can actually watch the loading and eventual dropping of the bombs upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki via video. I could not help but ponder the dynamics of community involved from one end of this bombs journey to the next and the eventual destruction of communities in total. Hillary Clinton suggested some time ago "It takes a village to raise a child". With the push of a button or the swipe of a pen our leaders can actually decimate villages instantaneously. Eisenhower's decision-making process at the crucial D-Day moment is well chronicled and basically came down to a "guess" on how the weather would effect troop movements and success. The thought process regarding World War II, its background, impact, "successes" and failures is not an easy one in some regards, but the ultimate questions pertaining to how we as a world people "do community" are critical to our existence.

These same questions can be brought much closer to home as we evaluate the importance of community in our own lives. The decisions we make regarding our actions in community will determine, literally, life or death for us, and others spiritually. For example, how does our decision to put ourselves first affect the lives of loved ones? The desire of a man or woman to look for greener pasture has a dramatic effect on the family community. One's desire and activity regarding daily decisions in the work place determine our impact for good or ill in the workplace. Our passions, pursuits, and hungers as individuals determine what kind of communities we navigate in.

In keeping with this Sunday's message on community, and the example of the Church in Acts 2, we must evaluate whether or not our worldview (which is demonstrated in our daily actions more than our theological treatises) is likely to aid in building community or is more likely to result in hindering its growth. The Church (and that's a people not a place) must adhere to some values and objectives that are non-negotiable if true community is to thrive. The Church must embrace a commitment to absolute truth as defined by Christ and we must live this out with passion in front of an on-looking world that is tossed to and fro by its relativistic ideologies. Likewise, the Church must clearly sound the clarion call of God's grace that draws people to repentance. The Church must stand for truth and grace at once. Truth without grace corrupts community and grace without truth leaves no foundation upon which true community can be built.

The bonds of community as shown in Acts 2 are the very things that ought to be demonstrated in our churches today. To the extent that our local churches resemble the Acts 2 church, so goes the extent of our impact in our local communities, cities, nation, and the world globally. The Church must become a village of community builders worldwide if we are to keep at bay the kind of atrocities we saw in the Hitler regime.

As a worshipping community the Church must embrace the passionate heart felt worship that existed in the historic "revivals" of old. We must acknowledge that far too many of our churches embrace a pep-rally style of worship with little biblical substance, while others of our churches are incarcerated by dogma, ritual, and repetitive gesture with little if any heart-felt devotion. As a community we must recover worship "in spirit and truth".

Finally, we have just witnessed some amazing images of millions of people joining in the Vatican to await the announcement of a new Pope. Whatever your theological bent, it is hard to deny the compelling sense of community that existed there in the square. Oddly, those we in the church typically refer to as the "liberal media" were utterly compelled by the event. Time and time again, beyond the history involved, the commentators referred to the "sense" of togetherness they were witnessing as the images came over the screens world-wide. So, the questions remain. The answers, seemingly tough to walk out, are yet obvious. We have seen what devastation can be brought to our world, families, cities, and lives when community breaks down. What would this world look like if God's people worldwide truly embraced the call to community Acts 2 style? The answers are found in each decision we make to live in community on a daily basis. Try it and watch what God can do!

Bruce Smith (Rev.)
Director of Development, Teaching Pastor
bruce@uptownchurch.net

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