Intersection of faith and life
Anabaptism 101: Craving connection
Community applied
“It takes a village...” Even those who disagreed with Hillary Rodham Clinton on everything else knew she hit a responsive chord with her book by this title.
It may be coined in different words but the idea of “community” is the darling of our time. City planners, advertisers, program directors all know that tapping into “community” is a key part of being heard. Our culture craves it.
There is irony in this, however. For all the craving, almost every indicator suggests the bonds of community continue to fracture.
For me, the tragedy of this irony is most poignant when young people come to be married. Their craving for the ideal family is so intense it is almost tactile. Some of my best pastoral moments come as we talk about their hopes and dreams and I try to pass on some insights for success.
But when the marriage ceremony ends, there is an anxiety I cannot shake. I have seen far too many ideals shattered and the best of intentions and loftiest dreams crumble into dust, when confronted by stern reality.
These young people have watched relationships fail all around them. The life of the stepchild and the single parent are now the norm. The default position they have experienced is not stability but disintegration. They know how to survive failed relationships; what they do not know is how to succeed.
For Anabaptists, being a “kingdom community” is a foundational principle. We, the church, are the community of God. When we are born again, we are born into this church, this family, this people, this community, just as a child is conceived and born into its family. The church is God’s kingdom community. This is our theological and ontological reality.
But just as it is abundantly clear that having a child born to a father and mother does not guarantee a healthy family, so too, this spiritual but profound reality does not insure healthy kingdom communities.
Then how does healthy community happen?
Ingredients
There are three necessary ingredients for healthy kingdom community. Two are natural and simple; the third is mysterious, complex, and divine.
First, community requires deep connectivity. 1 Corinthians 12 sets out the paradigm that the church is a body. The great calamity described in this imagery is that when members of the body disconnect, the breach affects the entire system. The hand, ear, eye, or liver removed from the body withers and dies. The body that remains is handicapped, sometimes fatally.
The principle of connectivity is so simple, so natural, and so self-evident that it can easily be missed. But Paul relentlessly drives home his argument that without deep connectivity any talk of a healthy body is absurd.
Second, community needs time. Unlike the mythical Roman goddess Venus, community does not rise fully formed from the sea. Community, following the pattern of the sower and the seed, is planted, germinates, springs from the soil as a shoot, and only then grows into a mature organism (Matthew 13:1-9). No stages can be bypassed. Stages can become protracted and stall, and death and failure hang over the process, but a healthy plant needs time.
While communities need time to grow and mature, we live in a culture that demands immediate gratification. This is a profound clash of principles. Jesus, however, told us that we must count the cost. If we want a kingdom community, we must invest the time. There is no other way.
Finally, a kingdom community is built on love. This is neither simple nor natural and is deeply mysterious. This is not the “love” of regular currency but rather the unconditional, self-sacrificial love that God demonstrated in Jesus. But this is love that we demonstrate by our behaviour and is the kingdom community’s defining feature: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Kingdom community is not a theological concept, it is a living thing. It is designed for every age and every culture. Making it work well requires hard work over a very long time. Jesus told us we must “enter through the narrow gate” but this is “the road that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14).
“It takes a community...” Indeed. As Anabaptists, we understand that building and being a kingdom community is at the heart of what it means to be his followers. Doing it is our challenge.
Next month: separated living in the real world.
Community applied
“It takes a village...” Even those who disagreed with Hillary Rodham Clinton on everything else knew she hit a responsive chord with her book by this title.
It may be coined in different words but the idea of “community” is the darling of our time. City planners, advertisers, program directors all know that tapping into “community” is a key part of being heard. Our culture craves it.
There is irony in this, however. For all the craving, almost every indicator suggests the bonds of community continue to fracture.
For me, the tragedy of this irony is most poignant when young people come to be married. Their craving for the ideal family is so intense it is almost tactile. Some of my best pastoral moments come as we talk about their hopes and dreams and I try to pass on some insights for success.
But when the marriage ceremony ends, there is an anxiety I cannot shake. I have seen far too many ideals shattered and the best of intentions and loftiest dreams crumble into dust, when confronted by stern reality.
These young people have watched relationships fail all around them. The life of the stepchild and the single parent are now the norm. The default position they have experienced is not stability but disintegration. They know how to survive failed relationships; what they do not know is how to succeed.
For Anabaptists, being a “kingdom community” is a foundational principle. We, the church, are the community of God. When we are born again, we are born into this church, this family, this people, this community, just as a child is conceived and born into its family. The church is God’s kingdom community. This is our theological and ontological reality.
But just as it is abundantly clear that having a child born to a father and mother does not guarantee a healthy family, so too, this spiritual but profound reality does not insure healthy kingdom communities.
Then how does healthy community happen?
Ingredients
There are three necessary ingredients for healthy kingdom community. Two are natural and simple; the third is mysterious, complex, and divine.
First, community requires deep connectivity. 1 Corinthians 12 sets out the paradigm that the church is a body. The great calamity described in this imagery is that when members of the body disconnect, the breach affects the entire system. The hand, ear, eye, or liver removed from the body withers and dies. The body that remains is handicapped, sometimes fatally.
The principle of connectivity is so simple, so natural, and so self-evident that it can easily be missed. But Paul relentlessly drives home his argument that without deep connectivity any talk of a healthy body is absurd.
Second, community needs time. Unlike the mythical Roman goddess Venus, community does not rise fully formed from the sea. Community, following the pattern of the sower and the seed, is planted, germinates, springs from the soil as a shoot, and only then grows into a mature organism (Matthew 13:1-9). No stages can be bypassed. Stages can become protracted and stall, and death and failure hang over the process, but a healthy plant needs time.
While communities need time to grow and mature, we live in a culture that demands immediate gratification. This is a profound clash of principles. Jesus, however, told us that we must count the cost. If we want a kingdom community, we must invest the time. There is no other way.
Finally, a kingdom community is built on love. This is neither simple nor natural and is deeply mysterious. This is not the “love” of regular currency but rather the unconditional, self-sacrificial love that God demonstrated in Jesus. But this is love that we demonstrate by our behaviour and is the kingdom community’s defining feature: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Kingdom community is not a theological concept, it is a living thing. It is designed for every age and every culture. Making it work well requires hard work over a very long time. Jesus told us we must “enter through the narrow gate” but this is “the road that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14).
“It takes a community...” Indeed. As Anabaptists, we understand that building and being a kingdom community is at the heart of what it means to be his followers. Doing it is our challenge.
Next month: separated living in the real world.
—James Toews
