Importance of Community

I love the show Community....so Funny!

This post is not about that show.

I was just thinking about how important it was for a Christian to be in community. Not necessarily from a biblical perspective, but just from a "Paul In Lee's" perspective that might have some biblical hints.

Here's the main point: Community promotes spiritual growth; isolation promotes spiritual death. God wants community, Satan wants isolation

Think about it:

High School/Junior High Retreats- Weren't these some of the moments you felt closest to God? Often retreats are called "Spiritual highs" b/c of how people cry and pray on the last day. It gets criticized (i believe wrongly) as just an emotional high that doesn't last when they get back to "reality" But think about it... when you're with Christian brothers and sisters, you wake up early in the morning to do QTs, pray, have three services a day, have small groups and are surrounded by godliness, does it shock you that you feel close to God when you're doing Godly things 24/3? Not me. In fact the thing that people call "spiritual high" seems more like reality to me. And when we get back down the mountain, that seems more "unreal" to me...that's when the distractions of the world creep back in and you're back to living the spiritual low. But in heaven, we'll be with God 24/7/eternity. In Community Forever.

Community in College- for those of you who were really involved in church or Christian clubs in college, think about it, weren't those years times of great spiritual growth? Did a lot of it have to do with the fact that we were surrounded by Christians doing Christian things? Small groups, accountability, prayer meetings, weekday gatherings, fellowship. You had old mentors and younger dongsengs to take care of... that's how the body is supposed to function! not in isolation.

Young Adult life- often this is the hardest stage of a Christian's life... when most people fall away...why? could it be lack of community? lack of accountability? Christian isolation wasn't meant to be.


On top of that, think about the world/Satan's recent attempts at isolating Christians in America:

Internet- in the world of Facebook, Google chat, blogs, the world has gotten smaller, but at the same time, every gets their own cubicle...and its impolite to get in someone's personal space. Internet itself is not bad, but not if it is used as the primary means of building community.

Work/School- Often times we place work and school at such a high priority that other important community things get shafted (small groups, church, fellowship groups)... we say...all they do is share...i'd rather work...i'd rather study, all they're going to do is eat dinner.... but man.. its in that dinner, in that sharing where real life community happens.

Exhortation: for those who are not involved in a church (not just attending)...I encourage you guys, get back into it... your spiritual growth depends on it...

Proverbs 27:17 talks about ironing sharpening iron...if you don't have another iron buddy, you can't get sharpened.