Real Community is Mixed
Compelling Community
I grew up as a human in a church where there were four other people my own age. Now that’s not a bad percentage, when you find out that the church was about twenty-five people. But one being my sister, and three from another family, meant that I always thought the ideal church would be one made up of people all my own age.
Then one day I ended up in a church like that, and found it lacking.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on the feeling at the time, but what I needed to grow up as a Christian was an ekklesia, a church, that truly was a community shaped by the gospel - I needed real community which is mixed.
What do I mean by “mixed”? People that are all not like me.
In a previous article in a string of journal posts I’m writing, I talked about how real community is messy. That’s the nature of what real church-life is like on earth. The church-pilgrim is not yet the church triumphant, and the church pilgrim therefore is not perfect yet for that’s Jesus’ job. And as we wait for the church in heaven, the only community on earth that will last forever, we can enjoy a taste of what Revelation 7:9 describes by being part of a church that is made up of every people group, language group and age group. We can enjoy real community that is mixed.
One of my favourite little books on the church (I have a lot of favourite big books too on the church), is ‘The Compelling Community - Where God’s Power Makes a Church Attractive’ by Mark Dever & Jamie Dunlop. This book fills out what I was feeling, that whether I’m twenty-two or ninety-two, I need a church not of people my own age - I need something far better. I need a community of humans that are different from me, but in our diversity find unity in Christ. This is truly a compelling community.
There’s many a church that exists as a gospel-plus community, they’re easy to exist because they simply gather with people who are like each other. They might study in the same course, work in the same trade or profession, play the same sport. That’s all fine, until you see what you can’t unsee…. this: that this kind of all-the-same-kind of community says little about the power of the gospel. This is what Dever & Dunlop show in their book, this is what I have felt, seen and experienced growing up.
This book, ‘Compelling Community’ is so helpful that I think they say it best in this following paragraph:
‘Contrast this (“gospel-plus” community) with “gospel-revealing” community. In gospel-revealing community many relationships would never exist, but for the truth and power of the gospel - either because of the depth of care for each other, all because two people in relationship have little in common, but Christ…
…Whereas, when Christians unite around something other than the gospel, they create community that would likely exist even if God didn't. As a modern-day tower of Babel, that community glorifies their strength instead of God’s. And the very earnest things they do to create this type of community actually undermine God’s purposes for it. Gospel-plus community may result in inclusive relationships we’re looking for. But it says little about the truth and power of the gospel.’
A compelling community is one where humans can grow as Christians. It’s a community where the gospel-community helps people to grow because they have the oppurtunity to enjoy relationship that would not be possible without the power of the gospel that saves and gathers us together. In this way such church communities made up of all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds and in all sorts of generations truly reveals the power of the gospel of Christ.
So let’s be thankful for churches where they have real community of mixed congregations.
Let’s be grateful for the churches of twenty-five souls who have those five young disciples.
Let’s give thanks in our prayers for all the saints of every age and every life-stage.
And let’s pray for Reforming to keep growing to be a real mix, a real community, where we are really thankful that the gospel is revealed among us.
