Distinguishing Characteristics of Christian Community

WHEN: Friday, July 18, 2008 - 7:30 PM
WHERE: Lighthouse, Carey Building

Walton spoke (sorry for the late post!) about what distinguishes Christian community. If Christians are different from the world in that we have the Holy Spirit and are called to be salt and light, then our community should look different from the world. Yet, so often it seems like there is little tangible difference. So what should should the world see in us that is different? Walton has been contemplating this for the past month, so read on to hear his insight!

Introduction
We should come clean as who we are. Christians are not normal. We are still sinners, but at the end, we come as is. We are who we are and often when dealing with us, there will be failure and disappointment. This makes building a Christian community especially difficult. “Sometimes it is hard to find dynamic, but it shouldn’t be that hard.”

God’s Dream for Community
How do we foster a true Christian community in Cornerstone? Different people have different expectations or dream differently. Are those expectations the same as God’s? Dream mismatch between us and God can lead to unrealistic expectation. Even though the expectations can be “Christian” based, it may not come from God. There is so much potential and possibility for Cornerstone, but so many obstacles to keep us from forming a community.

Why is community important?
• It is at the core of who God is
o From the beginning, it begins with a community, the Trinity.
o After creating Adam, God created Eve to form a perfect community for Adam.
• It is who He designed us for
o American thinking is all about independence.
o “There is a human shape void in each of us and God wants it to be filled by community.”
• It is what God passionately longs for
o After Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, God continually seeks relationship with us.
o Gospel is about restoring relationship. It helps restore the gap between God & people. For us, it also helps bring Christians together (fellowship). It also helps bring Christians and non-Christians together (evangelism)
o God has his community (Trinity) in the beginning, but out of the over pouring love, he created us, so we can enjoy this community

Why is true community so hard to find?
• Lack of time is often an issue. The advancement of technology is supposed to help us work faster and more efficiently, but ironically, people are working harder than ever because they are forced to cram more tasks into this finite amount of time, hence the concept of multi-tasking.
• With so many things to do, there is less common bond between people. TV, movies, entertainments…etc have become an essential part of people’s lives.
• The advancement of technology, such as cell phone and email, supposed to improve our communication with each other. Ironically, it seems to have an opposite effect. People are less personal now. People would rather text or instant message than talking directly with each other.

Some Key Elements of True Community
• Unmasked
• Acceptance - We are often so focus on sins that we fail to recognize grace and the seriousness of it.
• Empathy
• Resolving conflicts
• Forgiveness
• Invitation to tell the truth
• Inclusion - Religious people try so hard to exclude those people, whom the society deems as the “sinners”, i.e. prostitutes, drug addicts, gangs…etc.
• Gratitude to God

Moving towards the Dream
A community should have:
• A real sense of purpose for meeting
• Everyone is bought into that purpose. Showing up to the meeting actually matters
• There’s an opportunity to serve and love someone every week.

Applications and Something to Think about
Think about your past friendships with other people and ask yourself:
• What have been the most satisfying elements about those friendships?
• How have those friendships drawn you closer to God (if at all)?