Made For Community

 I returned a few days ago from the most fulfilling trip I've taken in awhile. While it was definitely one of the shortest vacations I've ever had, it was one of the most meaningful because it was spent in the company of besties who have brought me into a God-breathed love I never thought possible. 

I embarked on the trip with a heavy heart. The weeks prior had been filled up with deaths, farewells, memorial services, and all things sad. I was craving the comfort of the body of Christ at a time when God was asking me to let go of a lot. And, while I expected to find this comfort during my time away, it turned out to be so much more than what I had hoped for. 

During the four days I was away, my time was filled with conversations about striving to magnify Christ, of dying to self, of not letting the trappings of the world entangle you with empty promises of fulfillment, of making much of Jesus in everything. And one word kept coming to mind in the midst of all these interactions: community. 

We were made to do life with others. Forsake community, and you forsake the life-blood of your very existence. Because, after all, didn't Christ say at the beginning of it all that the one thing He saw was "not good" was that man should be alone? 

With every hug, with every prayer uttered, I pressed the love of these my fellow believing friends deep into my soul. And I could feel it thawing with each day that passed. Because that's the role of those we walk with. To remind us of the realities of the Gospel when we forget. Perhaps sometimes to even believe for us when we are too weak to believe for ourselves. 

A recent study showed that over half of modern-day Americans feel alone on a continual basis. In a day and age when we can connect with one another like never before, the average person is feeling more dis-connected than ever before. And perhaps the reason lies in something an Army chaplain friend of mine recently said. 

He said that he notices in the people he works with and counsels that there is an increasing lack of commitment to long-term relationships with others. As people change duty stations, they drop off communication with friends they made in the previous location. As life goes on, they allow things to get in the way of loyal and steadfast dedication to those they do life with. And, more and more, they are leaving behind them a trail of past friendships that simply die out because that need for community wasn't fostered correctly. They may make new acquaintances but they lose the old because they're not pressing into the effort it takes to keep those going through the various seasons of life. 

I have to admit that, from my own experience, he's not wrong in this observation either. It seems it's becoming easier and easier to ignore community. And yet, the rising suicide rate, the rapidly increasing mental health issues and so many other problems show evidence that maybe this modern pursuit of independence isn't serving us well. We are dying internally because we aren't fostering the very thing we were made for.

Except for one friend on the trip, all of the people I visited were ones I hadn't spent time with in years and it showed me that real community - true friendship - is timeless. Ageless. And real. 

Press into the cultivation of all things together and you will never lack for hope. You will never lack for love. You will always discover miracles. And live in joy. Because God places us with one another for the sole purpose of helping each other become more like Jesus. As we drive each other to deeper levels of faith, purpose, and devotion. 

When I flew home a short few days later, I cried tears of relief and release. Because that's what real love does for you. It releases you of the need to go at this life on your own. It frees you to be who you truly are and not be judged for it. It soothes your need to be perfect, to do more, to become anything other than who God wants you to be. Love casts out fear. Love gives you a safe place to bring your soul-wounds and discover the peace of Jesus Christ. 

And the Christian community is never at its finest than when it is bringing in the lonely ones to seek comfort in the One who once announced that being alone was our greatest danger. 

When the world pushes you to drive yourself harder, to keep pushing for the bigger, faster, stronger to the exclusion of those around you, you can dare to live your existence differently. Try to pursue a fulfilling life without the company of others, and you will get nothing at all. You will have nobody to pour your one self into and nowhere to be poured into by another. 

So dare. DARE to connect yourself to other hearts. Souls who need you as much as you need them. 

And let Jesus be placed in between yours and theirs. And if He's the Lord of both your lives, your friendship will have no end. Because you'll always be looking for ways to keep loving one another as He has loved each of you. 

You - yes...beautiful you - you were made to belong. And Jesus offers that community to you amongst other people who are being re-made and resurrected right alongside you. But it's up to you to seek that out. And when you find yourself wanting to hide, take a risk and reach out. You just may discover that the comfort of another is exactly what you're needing to turn your eyes upward and find hope once again.