I would guess those are all attributes of community groups we see in the world today. What makes the body of Christ, a community of Believers different?
A Christian community might function in a similar way as other social groups. They both share meals, hobbies, values, interests, and space. However, the main difference between a secular community and a Christ-following community is their common bond and their shared goal.
A Common Bond
You have more in common with a Christian woman living in China than you do with your unbelieving next door neighbor. Christian community shares the most important reality ever: Christ in us.The body of Christ is far more than just a social club, something entertaining to add to our calendar. It’s not a once a week event but a lifestyle, a never-changing reality. Believers are united together in Christ at all times and in all places.
I often approach God's family with my own selfish expectations: I expect them to make me feel better, to amp up my social life, or to give me a fun experience I can record on social media. I treat my spiritual brothers and sisters as a social group, ignoring the divine power that bonds us together.
Worldly community is based on emotions, the things on earth; Godly community is based on Truth, the spiritual things above.
May we approach the Church not as a means to an end but as a supernatural reality founded on the truth that we are all saved by faith through grace, heirs of Christ's inheritance, and temples of the Holy Spirit.
This truth transforms what we do, what we talk about, and how we treat each other. Our faith moves us from a surface level friendship to a Christ-centered, Gospel-saturated sisterhood.
Christ in us transforms the goal of our relationships with Believers.
A Shared Goal
Believers primarily meet to experience more of Christ. It's not about the people, the setting, or the activity; it's about our Maker.
The goal of our relationship with Christian community members is not to manipulate them into giving us what we desire. God's family is not our own; they are God's, bought with the blood of Christ.
Instead, our goal in every interaction with our family is to love them by pushing them closer to the one who loves them best, our Father. The Church body has one shared goal, to glorify God. The end is Christ, not ourselves.
Christian communities thrive when they depend on Christ for happiness, not each other.
The goal of our relationship with Christian community members is not to manipulate them into giving us what we desire. God's family is not our own; they are God's, bought with the blood of Christ.
Instead, our goal in every interaction with our family is to love them by pushing them closer to the one who loves them best, our Father. The Church body has one shared goal, to glorify God. The end is Christ, not ourselves.
Christian communities thrive when they depend on Christ for happiness, not each other.
"[I, Paul] urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1-5
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When you became a child of the King, you were re-born into an entirely new (and bigger) family. Fellow Believers, near and far, are God's gift to you.
A true community sees each member as Christ sees them, forgiven and loved by grace alone.
Let us thankfully receive the Christian community that surrounds us in every season. It is one of the many free spiritual blessings we received when God predestined us for adoption to himself as children through Jesus' death and resurrection. May we humbly steward his gift well.
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