Community

One thing that has shown itself to be one of the true cravings of the human (especially American) soul lately is the feeling of community. Yes there are still political divides on issues such as marriage and abortion. Yes there is still an evident worship of money and the planet. But there is also a longing for community.

This longing can be seen everywhere; commercials strive to send the message that we are all just trying to make it in this world and we might as well work together, bumper stickers with the message that every religion and philosophy should simply "coexist" and of course we Americans hired a "community organizer" as our supreme leader.

This longing can also be seen from a biblical perspective. The greatest example being the Tower of Babel when the people worked together to make a name for themselves. It was at that point that God confused their languages forcing them to cluster around the planet (Genesis 11:1-9).

Though we can find the world striving for community in many other places in the Bible as well the reality is they will never truly satisfy this desire. It is a longing that is only satisfied in the Church.

In the book of Acts Luke describes this community as it is expressed in the local church:

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35)

But these little groups are not the only satisfaction for this longing. Ultimately humanity will find true university (a word that comes from the concept of trying to find unity in diversity) in the universal Church. For example, in Revelation 7:9 John tells us of a multitude of people from every people, nation, and language standing before the throne of God.

This is just one more example of the longings of the human soul being fulfilled in Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen