When the Scripture talks about church, it means community. The little fellowships of the heart that are outposts of the kingdom. A shared life. They worship together, eat together, pray for one another, go on quests together. They hang out together, in each other's homes. ... I love this description of the early church: "All the believers were on in heart." (Acts. 4:32). There is a camaraderie being expressed there ... . It means they all love the same thing, they all want the same thing, and they are bonded together to find it come hell or high water. And hell and high water will come, friends, and this will be the test of whether or not your band will make it: If you are one in heart. ... Going to church with hundreds of other people to sit and hear a sermon doesn't ask much of you. It certainly will never expose you. That's why most folks prefer it. Because community will. It will reveal where you have yet to become holy. It will bring you close and you will be seen and you will be known and therein lies the power and therein lies the danger. ... Seriously, now, how often have you seen this sort of intimate community work? It is rare. Because it is hard, and it is fiercely opposed. The Enemy hates this sort of thing; he knows how powerful it can be, for God and his kingdom. For our hearts. ... We have settled for safety in numbers -- a comfortable, anonymous distance. An Army that keeps meeting for briefings, but never breaks into platoons and goes to war. Living in community is like camping together. For a month. In the desert. Without tents. All your stuff is scattered out there for everyone to see. C'mon -- anybody can look captured for Christ an hour a week, from a distance, in the Sunday best. But your life is open to those you live in community with. ... A true community is something you will have to fight for. You'll have to fight to get one, and you'll have to fight to keep it afloat. ... Suddenly all those "one another's" in Scripture make sense. Love one another. Bear one another's burdens. Forgive one another. ... But be careful about what you are looking for from community. Community is no substitute for God. ... We first go to God, alone, so that we have something to bring back to the community. ... God is calling together little communities of the heart, to fight for one another and for the hearts of those who have not yet been set free. --John Eldredge in "Waking the Dead"

Thanks, Kristin, for that! I particularly love the part: "Because community will. It will reveal where you have yet to become holy"...

Sometimes I struggle with bondage to guilt remembering bone-headed things I've said and done. Oh my. What bone-headed things I've said and done! I certainly know that I've revealed PLENTY yet to become holy! Praise the Lord for community in Christ!!!

But it also made me think about how I view the Church. And I remembered WE don't really choose our community as much as GOD chooses it for us.

Did we do some "church shopping" before we settled on a church? YEP! But it wasn't like shopping for the prettiest clothes, the cheapest deal, or the trendiest hang-out. We were looking for the spot that God had picked out and prepared for us in advance. We didn't choose our circle of friends and decide to "do church together". We looked for where God was leading and simply followed.

The church we decided on is much too big to know and love everyone in it. But we follow God wherever He leads us inside its walls and have made quite a few connections already.

Besides random connections through serving, we also have a few friends we've, in a sense, CHOSEN. We might choose to spend more time with them because we like them and we can be of mutual benefit to each other. So sure, we can make choices about who we THINK we're allowing in our circle. And even within that small circle, we will be exposed and hurt. But our community is larger than our circle. And it inevitably includes people we don't really care for, people who've hurt us, people we think are "below" us, people who think they're "above" us, people who hover in the same blogging communities as we do, people who have very different convictions and living styles than we do...

At the time of the writing of Acts, the Church was still small and pocketed. But today, it includes people from MOST every tongue, tribe, and nation. Suddenly, our large Southern Indiana church seems VERY small! The scriptures aren't so narrow that they exhort house churches to be unified but not the larger Universal Church of Christ! That's one of the reasons missions is SO important! How are we to be unified with the Church if we have no idea what MOST of it is up to? How are we ever to do all the functions of the Body if we are so severed from other Body parts in other parts of the globe? Unity within an IMMEDIATE FAMILY is still impressive. Unity of the WHOLE BODY OF BELIEVERS is even that much more miraculous!

My hubby is the Homeowner's Association President of our neighborhood. It seems lots of people have complaints. But very few want to volunteer for committees to get things done. Some people are friendly with the people directly next to them who they share common interests with. Others are loners - maybe because they are of a different race or culture and feel REJECTED, maybe because they have their own lives and don't WANT to be involved in anything else... But every single family signed a statement (upon ownership of their home) acknowledging their membership responsibilities in the Association. Are we all members of a community even though some choose not to participate? YES!

The Universal Church IS our community, whether we engage in it or not. Whether we submit to the leadership or not. Whether we support it with our full tithe and freewill offerings or not. Whether we serve it's needs or not. Whether we care to find out who they are and meet with them or not. Whether we lift up our voices together to praise and give Him glory now or just wait until we're obligated to in Heaven...

How much more glory would He receive if we chose to join with believers around the world NOW?!?

Do we wait until someone else approaches US to be unified, or do we proactively reach out and extend the right hand of fellowship to EVERY brother and sister in Christ? Do we get hurt and withdrawal or do we become peacemakers? Do we isolate ourselves in the circle we've chosen or do we keep our hearts open for people God chooses for us?

I want to experience a taste of Heaven here on earth! I want to know what it feels like to be purposefully and miraculously unified with people from every tongue, tribe, and nation! I want to be part of the magnified glory-giving that can only happen when UN-like-minded believers come together as One Beautiful Bride of Christ! Wow, what a festival of celebration it will be!