Community Emphasis

The importance of community is something about which many misconceptions exist in the western churches of Christianity. By this I mean that in many instances the role of community in discipleship is de-emphasized, not acknowledged or wrongly or insufficiently applied. As we grow in the Christian faith and understanding of kingdom truths, much of our growth comes through common conversations.

As Jesus walked and talked with His disciples understanding of the kingdom was imparted to them. He taught them what it meant to walk in His ways. His teaching was very organic. He taught through the ongoing conversation that was taking place in the day to day work he was doing. He did, He explained and then He checked for understanding.

For example in the 12th chapter of Matthew we can read where Jesus is walking with his disciples. (vs 1) It is the Sabbath. The disciples are hungry and they are picking grains from the stalks growing in the field they are traveling through. Some Pharisees see this and begin to lecture Jesus about allowing his disciples to do what is forbidden on the Sabbath, namely working by harvesting grain. Jesus takes the opportunity presented to teach on the difference between earning Gods approval and realizing that it is granted as a gift due to no accomplishment of the receiver.

Then He goes to the synagogue where he heals a man who has a “withered hand”. This also is viewed as work on the Sabbath and the Pharisees again chastise him, asking “is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Jesus again teaches, pointing out that to God the man is valuable beyond the keeping of rules. First He articulates proper motivation. Then he demonstrates proper practice. He establishes that in his kingdom it is not the rules that dictate appropriate behavior but the spirit of love.

The chapter continues in this vein. At the end of the chapter the Pharisees having witnessed Jesus heal a man and then cast a demon out and heal another, say to him. “Teacher we wish to see a sign from you.” Jesus in perfect form tells them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah”. What he is telling them is that the sign he will give them is his death and subsequent resurrection. This will be the sign that he is God and that his way is the way that all who seek righteousness will follow.

Imagine the disciples. They are watching and absorbing all that is taking place. They are learning first hand the way the kingdom operates. They are in community with Jesus and it is in the closeness of this association that they are instructed.

In the next chapter, chapter 13, is where Jesus teaches the kingdom parables from a boat in the sea. This is such a rich portion of scripture. The parables are such an excellent example of teaching. Completely relevant to the audience, however the truths are couched in the imagery of the story, and only those who have the kingdom spirit will understand. It is not given to humans to understand the kingdom unless a new spirit is first born in them.

In the midst of this the disciples come with a question. “They ask why He uses Parables to teach the people?” Jesus explains that it is only those whose stone hearts have been replaced with hearts of flesh, only those who are reborn, who can understand. It is best summarized in Matt 13:18-23 and I can certainly not improve on the words of the Christ. Understand as you read these verses that the root Jesus speaks of as being paramount to understanding is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also makes the soil good.

After all the parable teaching, Jesus does an interesting thing. He asks the disciples, “Have you understood these things?” They reply yes. Then, and here is the clincher. In verse 52 Jesus says, “Therefore (because the parables have been understood) every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.

To really understand the gravity of what he is saying we need to understand some thing that has been lost to us in our culture but that was absolutely known to the disciples. The term scribe in their culture didn’t just mean someone who takes dictation or someone who documents things. In the Hebraic culture the scribe was one of the most highly respected and important positions in the Sanhedrin, the keepers of the Torah. What a scribe did was to interpret law and decide how to apply the interpretation. They basically dictated the laws which governed society.

So what Jesus is telling the disciples is amazing. He is saying if you want to interpret the kingdom and then accurately apply the interpretation, you need to allow new understanding to be enlightened by old and vice versa. So what does that mean? It means far more than I understand. One thing it means is that as we in this culture read scripture and interpret and apply kingdom revelation we need to submit our new ideas to established truths. Also we need to take established truth and look at how it fits into what we are learning now. Not that we allow what we are learning now to make obsolete the old, but that we require the new to retain and be informed by the old.

So what does any of this have to do with what I originally started out talking about? How does this relate to the way in which importance of community has been marginalized, de-centralized? It has everything to do with it.

Often in our churches our whole experience with hearing the word of God and learning to apply it comes through monologues from a pastor or study leader or some other teacher. This is not bad. However it is only one part of discipleship and it is insufficient to do the whole work. Additionally we need to have shared experiences applying the word. Finally we need to have thorough conversations to bring clarity and unity.

It is important as we look at ways to more fully disciple each other within our communities, that we maintain consistent adherence to sound biblical interpretation. It will not help for us to get the community aspect accurately adjusted if in the process we throw out the old. It’s the baby and the bath water analogy. The bath water needs to be tossed and replaced, however the baby is precious and sacred.

Who among us if we were washing our baby, the goal being a clean and healthy baby, would wash the baby in sewage? Or which of us would make a nice bath of mineral salts and perfumed water just the right temperature and then open up the window and chuck the baby out into the street? The baby is Jesus. If we want the image of Jesus to be purely manifested in our lives and the lives of those we are in community with, we have to cleanly understand who he is and what he does. Only consistent teaching, open communication, and accurate demonstration can accomplish this. Anything else is muddying the baby.

Concurrently if we have a great approach to hearing, asking, and demonstrating, we can’t then pervert the message. We can’t maintain our program but disseminate inaccurate information. We will just be tossing the baby out. We absolutely have to have the baby.

In closing when we do church this way it works the way it should. Jesus gives us the truth we need. People combined with total methods of teaching Jesus make disciples. Disciples form kingdom communities. The communities bring heaven to the earth in a larger scale than we as individuals can.