Two Points:: Thrusday March11

Point 1. A few words on community.- In Genesis the Bible starts with God creating. There is a rhythm that is going on. Each day there is something created and then God proclaims it to be good, it is very rhythmic. Then in Genesis 2:18 we see the words "it was not good". The reference is that man is alone. For the first time something is proclaimed to be not good and it is man being alone.

Simply put you were not meant to be alone. We were all meant to be in community. Community is is not a neighborhood. The root word of community is commune. When I use community in this context, I mean that we partake of life together and we partake of each other as we do life. You are meant to live this sort of communing life with people.

There is more though. As North Church, we seek to live in gospel centered community. What this adds to it is that we are fully aware that we are messed up and you are messed up and we do not hold back our acceptance of one another based upon being or messed up or the times that we mess up.

Do you see the freedom in this? There is no need to impress or perform. The analogy is we are free to wear our sweats and hoodies and slippers around the house. Communing with people is one thing, but hurt can come and come deep when it is not gospel centered. When it is not gospel centered, we are guarded and hold back our vulnerability and thus it is not real community.

I encourage you to engage in real community. I encourage you to think deeply about the relationships that are the most comfortable or healthy or vital to you. What characteristics are true of those relationships?

Point 2 a gospel centered community example

LOST SPOILER ALERT

This weeks Lost episode documents it perfectly. The episode is called Dr. Linus If you do not know Lost and Ben Linus, first off I pity you and second this will be irrelevant to you. But you can watch it anyway because there is background given. The scene I want to direct you occurs at 34:35. Ben has come to complete grips with his awful nature and says that he is going to join Locke because he is the only one who will have him. Ben is repentant about who he is for the first time in his life. He is really broken. The response of the one who has been pursuing him is, "I'll have you."

There is so much to this scene. So much about the gospel and repentance and idol worship and a struggle for power. But what is also here and demonstrated brilliantly is gospel centered community. Broken people who have done very hurtful things to each other, yet there is acceptance.