Made for More | Belonging to Community

Throughout the Bible we see time and time again that God calls His people to do life in community. God himself exists as three entities in one Godhead relating in a perfect, loving, indivisible community. We call it the Trinity - God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If God exists as essentially the supreme manifestation of community, then there can be no truer expression of His image than when we belong to a faith community. We are united in Jesus, we share a common hope, a common baptism, a common faith. The core that unites us is far more significant than any of our differences.

When you look at your local expression of church, or consider the awe-inspiring diversity of what God is doing all around the world, what do you see? It’s so easy to imagine fences marking out the spaces that we’re comfortable staying inside. To feel like we'll be safe if we stay away from people who aren't like us. When that happens, we quickly lose all perspective on what matters, and we forget how much we need others, others who are different. That’s why Paul regularly reminds the churches he’s writing to that they need to embrace humility. Because God doesn’t save us just to do life in comfortable, padded spaces, avoiding real people. He plants us in community.

God Uses Messy People

Apart from Jesus, there’s not a single character in the Bible who avoids mistakes, unhealthy conflict or selfishness. We’re all messy, we’re all learning, we’re all a work in progress. But that’s the point. God uses tricky and uncomfortable relationships to invite us to learn how to love. We discover the miracle of the Holy Spirit’s power as God grows His relational qualities in us - those ones we call the ‘fruit of the Spirit’. But it only happens when we’re willing to get close to other followers of Jesus, close enough to see the mess. The problem is that we tend to gravitate towards relational spaces that are more comfortable. It’s very easy to rationalise avoiding people who are different to us.

But when we look at Jesus’ hand picked group of disciples, we get a glimpse of how things should be. Matthew was a tax collector, basically working for the occupying forces of Rome. Another one of the disciples was an ultra-nationalist set on killing Romans. Imagine how those two got along! Then we’ve got James and John who are described as ‘Sons of Thunder’ because of their hot tempers and aggressiveness. They also tried to lobby Jesus for special treatment, they were ambitious and power hungry. I bet the other disciples weren’t all that impressed. Thomas was always questioning and a bit cynical. And let’s not forget that Jesus chose Judas, the one who ends up disillusioned and basically takes a bribe to betray him. They certainly don’t look like a very promising bunch. But God uses messy people.

Love The Ones You’re With

In today’s world we can fall into the trap of thinking that the measure of our influence is the size of our audience. But that’s not the economy of the Kingdom, it’s a worldly way of thinking. Jesus did speak to the crowds, but he focused on a smaller core group of followers, and from among them he chose the twelve apostles to really sow into. Three of those twelve were invited into a closer level of relationship and then just one disciple is offered a unique intimacy, with Jesus giving him the responsibility to care for his mother when he’s gone. Jesus modelled a ministry that prioritised personal relationships above the opportunity to influence crowds.

We need to measure our influence by the quality of the relational connections we experience. If you want to discover more of God’s purpose for your life, then ask God to show you who He has already put in your world. And don’t be surprised when He invites you into a deeper level of relationship with people who force you out of your comfort zone. Those people who do faith a little differently than you, the ones whose lives look messy to you. You belong to the community that God has put you in. God designed church to draw us into a lifestyle that’s all about humility, love and faithfulness. You were made for more; saved into community; called into relationship. God is all about using messy people to help us discover more of His plan for our lives.

Reflection Questions

1. What am I more focused on, differences or what we share in common?
2. In my faith community, how much have I embraced messy relationships? How much do I let other people see my mess?
3. Who has God put in my life right now for mutual encouragement and growth? Are there any relationships I need to make more space for?