Faith Communities Fail and Succeed
If life before eternity is the practice field, then faith-based communities are the teams providing heaven-bound lessons. Community comes together, not displaying differences, but sharing commonalities. We unite through accepted belief that God chose us before the foundation of the world to be His (Ephesians 1:4). We gather as one family to spiritually mature, physically support, and emotionally care.
Jesus is on the field, covered in the sweat of his blood. He guides us, unprotected head gouged by thorns, on the way to the cross. He relinquishes every ounce of strength and self for us.
We progress behind him and remember our glimpse of perceived defeat and promise of everlasting victory. We recall God’s love and mercy as we seek counsel and comfort through the Holy Spirit. God’s grace fuels our journey.
And yet community is not magical or mysterious. Community comprises people, like you and me. We gather, often concealing unique experiences, backgrounds, language, and more. We hide displeasing pasts to gain present acceptance, not understanding community also shares sin’s commonalities. Sin reveals the family of God can be dysfunctional.
We make mistakes on the church practice field. We hurt each other and ourselves using words echoing from hearts beating with shame. We attack from places recalling hunger aching for acceptance. We gossip, lie, and judge, often prioritizing the need to be seen by man instead of worshipping the God who sees us.
We fail in numerous, spectacular ways, looking and sounding like messy people who don’t know the sovereign God who forgives and loves. But we are these messy people and under God’s patient watch, we reside in His places to exercise self-control, kindness, and gentleness.
We practice wearing the clothing of Christ on earth because we love God and want to live with Him and His family in eternal community. Our sisters and brothers will grow in number and diversity in heaven and represent a better version of our best earthly bloodlines. He saved us from individual sins to belong and work in corporate community, which originates in church.
Corporate family embodies transformation and learning how to serve, love, encourage, and assemble with others takes practice. We learn, through success and failure, how to point people to God, not ourselves, and how to create and maintain peace.
The church is the best place for making our mistakes. Isn’t it better to fail inside the walls of the faithful? Within and embraced by community, our lifelong quest for deeper relationship with God begins. We are fostered by fellow sinners who guide us safely home.
Life in faith-based communities comes with cost. We are not called to be spectators and occupy pews. We’re called to stir up love, good works, and encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25). We’re also called to learn and help others find the way into eternity by uniting around increased love and decreased division. We answer the call with sincere hearts, but sin sits with us and sometimes, we fight each other instead of fighting for pure motives.
God reigns in His united church, providing paths to remember His way into eternal rest. We right errant courses helping others into restoration (Galatians 6:1) as we restore ourselves. We begin again in community guided by the Holy Spirit and tied together with gossamer strings of grace.
Life is rough because we live in a fallen world. It’s why Jesus rescued and placed us in nurturing community to love better, forgive readily, and grow fruit of the spirit. We begin understanding that sinful actions display anger against man instead of demonstrating praise for God.
We humble ourselves, lift eyes, and raise hands to the heavens. We hold hands when we’re barely holding on. We lend guidance when others are lost. We lift a hand to the ones who can’t lift eyes. We share heartbeats with the ones who carry hardened hearts.
Over time, our learned and shared identity in Christ weighs more than the weight of individual sins or differences. Even under God’s protection, people will hurt us. Forgiveness becomes the renewed goal as we seek to move on and not away. We understand if we run from the failures of imperfect men, we run from the perfect God. Assembling, we practice compassionate love, turn inflamed cheeks, and bend stiff knees.
In the arms of community, we learn how to give and give back as well as how to love and love again. Community inspires action when we suffer uncertainty and provides direction when we lose our way. Community loans laughter to the sorrowful and holds space in the silence.
Community demonstrates love through the baking of bread, but it’s through the breaking of bread we come together in corporate identity as united children of God. We don’t go to church to find people with similar political interests or join book clubs. It’s not about finding community through likeness in earthly ways but drawing together in holy ways to find God and draw closer to Him.
In community, Jesus revealed himself. When the disciples gathered at the table, their eyes were opened to see the resurrected Lord (Luke 24:36-49). Miraculous healing, understanding, and growth occur as we connect with others through God.
United community doesn’t succeed because of ones who throw the ball better, but those who share pure love. Community doesn’t improve due to ones who run the fastest, but those who help the vulnerable. Community doesn’t demonstrate the love of Christ through ones who score the most goals, but those who submit to God, help the suffering, and impact lives.
We practice until physical life ends. We’ll get bloodied and need bandages on scarred limbs and hearts. But we stay the course -- on the practice field with our community, learning, loving, forgiving, and moving forward into eternity.
