I'll have admit that growing up in a small town may have influenced my view of life. The world I lived in then is a long way from the world of Wal-Marts, Corporate Drugstores, Super Food Warehouses, and mega churches. Yes, they offer us better prices, more choices and more programs but something is missing.

Mr. Gervie didn't have any hired greeters at the front door of his store, but people spent more time at his store talking than they did shopping. A pound of white beans didn't come in a nicely packaged cello wrapper; they were spooned out of a barrel into a brown paper bag and weighted on a scale. I can still hear his French accent, "Dattal be five cent."

Mrs. Potter, the local pharmacist and drugstore owner, sold drugs, cosmetics, magazines, toys, and candy. Customers could buy a double-scoop of vanilla ice cream or a purple-cow (coke float) for ten cents. The stools at the soda fountain invited people to stay and chat. In addition to this Mrs. Potter offered customers a listening ear, friendly chatter and advice. Like Mr. Gervie, she didn't have any hired greeters, she was the greeter, the cashier, the stock clerk and a friend to anyone who needed one.

The corner beauty shop and Mr. Piqué's barbershop did generate their share of gossip, but they also offered people the opportunity to work through personal problems. Patrons talked to a listening ear and got unsolicited advice, but somehow it seemed to help.

I worked for Mr. Freeburg from the time I was 11-years-old until I graduated from high school. While there was a bank next to the store, people often came to him for personal loans or for help with groceries. They'd buy $50 dollars worth of groceries each week and pay him $20 on their bill. Not a bad deal. Although the next grocery store was 30 miles away, he treated his customers with courtesy and kindness. He attended local ball games, band concerts and graduations. He knew everyone in town and even hired the hooligans no one else trusted and contributed to the building of their character by believing in them.

Now I realize that Corporate America and its counterparts offer us more choices and better prices than Freeburg's IGA, but I also realize that something is missing. Mom and pop stores couldn't offer the prices and choices found at corporate Department stores or Super Food Stores, but they gave their customers something that can't be measured in dollars and cents. They contributed to and promoted the sense of community.

The WWW has taken the world by storm. Why? What is it about this piece of technology that keeps people glued to a computer for hour upon hour? What are they looking for? What need is being met by visiting chat rooms and participating in email lists?

Leonard Sweet in an article titled THE QUEST FOR COMMUNITY admits to being an eBay addict. In his article he offers the Church a lesson from the WWW. He wrote:

"One of the favorite words used in the context of the Web is "community." eBay is in the business of building communities, they say; theirs is less an information source than a social medium.
The paradox is this: the pursuit of individualism has led us to this place of hunger for community, not of blood or nation but communities of choice.
More than buying and selling, the electronic emporium is about posting messages on bulletin boards, discovering new friends, and launching relationships at the eBay Cafe. One user said, "eBay is bringing people together to do a lot more than trading goods. We are trading our hearts."
Don't laugh.
eBay may just be the closest experience of small-town America available to postmoderns. Where else can they find people with similar interests (…)? Where else can they be drawn into community around a single purpose? Where else can they tell the stories most central to who they are and find people eager to hear them? Where else can they participate so fully and have their lives changed by the experience?
Nowhere else.
Except, perhaps, the church."

The Church in its earliest days was a community. It's members learned together, worshiped together, ate together, rejoiced together and lived together. Luke says:

Acts 2:41So then, those who had received this word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Community is…

• a sense of belonging, of being connected with people.
• It's knowing that if you don't show up, someone will notice.
• It's knowing that you are cared for and that you care for others.
• It means having things in common-common values, priorities and beliefs.
• It is having people to share things with-joys and sorrows, work and play, pizza and coke, stories, burdens, victories and defeats.
• A community is a group of people who matter to you, and to whom you matter. And a Church should be a community.

According to Howard Snyder, "…the Church is seen as the community of God's people-a people called to serve him and called to live together in true Christian community as a witness to the character and values of his Kingdom." [Howard Snyder, The Community of The King (IVP, Downers Grove, IL: 1977) page 12.]

COMMUNITY IS SOMETHING I AM A PART OF
Community is more than something I attend; it is something I am a part of. I attend funerals. I attend weddings. I attend meetings, but I am a member of this community of faith.

I own a screwdriver and I own a hammer. They are useful tools, but they aren't members of my body. I have used the little finger on my right hand as a tool, but it's more important than a dozen hammers. It is a part of my body. I go for weeks without seeing my screwdriver, but my little finger is a part of everyday of my life. If I lose my screwdriver I can buy another one, but the loss of my little finger will affect my life. I will force me to find new ways of doing old things.

The Church is not something we go to, it is what we are. It is unfortunate that many members of the body of Christ fail to see themselves as members of God's community of faith. The Church is something they attend, rather than something they are a part of. It is something they give to rather than a community they give themselves to. They live at a safe distance from involvement and pacify themselves by occasional attendance at its gatherings. This insures the use of the Fellowship Hall when their children marry and use of the Auditorium when they die. They make contributions, but they never make commitments. They are regular visitors, but they fall short of being committed members of the community.

I have people who visit my home. They sit in the front room, chat with my family, eat snacks and watch our Sony. They are visitors. When they leave, we stay. What they dirty, we clean. We pay the bills. We cut the grass. They may come by twice a week, but we live at 278 Tidwell Gin Road.

If church is merely something I attend, then the emphasis is on an act and the place is immaterial. You can attend Church in West Monroe this Sunday, El Dorado next Sunday and Florida the following Sunday. The act is all that matters. If Church is what we are, then the emphasis is on being and subsequent action is determined by why we exist.

THE COMMUNITY DOES NOT EXIST TO HAVE GOOD SERVICES
Community is not about having good services, but about being servants. When John refers to the "Church in Sardis" or "the Church in Ephesus," he isn't referring to a meeting, but a community. More specifically, He is addressing the community of believers in Sardis and the community of believers in Ephesus.

When Paul says, "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her," (See Eph 5:25.) He isn't suggesting that Jesus died for a church meeting; rather he is declaring that Jesus died for the community of faith.

Consumer America asks "how much can I get for my money" and Corporate America wants to know how much of your money it can get. While this makes the wheels of commerce spin it is a deadly attitude when adopted by Christians.

What would you think of a missionary who chose their field of service based upon that country's net income, technological advancements and the creature comforts available to foreign missionaries? What if they demanded a two-story beachfront apartment, a guaranteed salary of $10,000 a week and would only be required to preach once a week?

What would you think of a preacher who chose the Church he would pastor based upon the size of the congregation, the financial package, the size of the pastor's office and so on. In addition to these he demands that his workweek consist of four eight-hour days, a personal staff of not less than 6 people, a $300,000 condo in Destin, Florida and one week off every month.

These men remind me of the kamikaze pilot who completed 100 successful missions. They aren't what they claim to be.

What about the Christian who chooses the church they will attend based on the following criteria. The church must have multiple programs for every member of the family. They must have a counseling department, a fully staffed youth department, a fully staffed music department and a fully staffed educational department. They must have an indoor swimming pool, racketball courts and a private school that goes from kindergarten through 12th grade. The senior pastor must look like a movie star, teach like Charles Swindoll, preach like T. D. Jakes, sing like Larnelle Harris or Carman, visit them in their home at least twice a week and be available on demand at anytime. The Sunday morning service should begin at 11:00 and end exactly at noon. They should be asked to make any commitments, because they are looking for a church that has all of these features plus computer hookups on each reclining seat.

Extreme? Yes, but not uncommon. Christians are looking for the Church that can best serve them and their family, when they should be looking for a place of service within the community of faith.

I remember something about Jesus taking up a towel and a basin of water, and performing the task of a household servant.

John 13:4 "[Jesus] rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, girded Himself about. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
12 And so when He had washed their feet…He said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right; for so I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you."

Paul tells us, "6 …although He existed in the form of God, [He] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant… 8 … He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:6, 7, 8).

Jesus said, "26whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mt. 20:26, 28).

Instead of looking for a community that will serve us, we ought to be looking for a community where we can serve. But serve whom?

THE COMMUNITY EXISTS TO SERVE GOD
"And Jesus answered and said to satan, 'It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only" (Luke 4:8).

The community does not exist to serve itself or to serve the world. The community exists to serve God and by serving Him it serves one another and the world.

Service to others that is not first service to God is often self-serving service. Paul commands, "whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1Cor 10:31). If I do something for you to get something from you, that's not service it's manipulation.

Service that is not motivated by agapao is self-serving service. Paul says that it's possible to give all your possessions to feed the poor and fall short of being a godly servant.

CONCLUSION

Yesterday I watched a flock of geese fly overhead in a giant "V" formation. From what I understand each goose gets a little extra lift by flying close to the goose in from of him. The only goose without this help is the one in the lead, but all the honking is meant to encourage him. In goose language they are saying, "Keep up the good work! We're all behind you! Way to go goose!"

I am a part of a redeemed community of servants that exists to serve God.

I became a part of this community by obeying God's call to serve His purpose with its members.

As I serve God, I serve the members of this community and the world.

As the members of the community serve God, they offer encouragement and edification to other members of this community.

God's will for every member of this community is an obedient lifestyle that serves Him and thereby insures the health, well-being and growth of this community and its members, so that together we effectively proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel to an on looking world.

Question 1: Are you a part of this redeemed community or just a frequent visitor it's meetings?
Question 2: Are you serving this community and the world, by serving God's purpose for your life?
Question 3: If the life, growth and effectiveness of this community depended upon your present level of participation, will this community be a healthy, growing, viable expression of God's Kingdom until Jesus comes?

If you could not answer "yes" to all three of those question, then what needs to change, the standard or you?

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(C) 2001 by Louis Bartet, all rights reserved.