WEEK #4

Authentic Biblical Community

Are you experiencing “C”? - Part 4

It doesn’t matter whether you are in an adult Bible fellowship, a small group, or on a ministry team. The question is – Are you experiencing Authentic Biblical Community? The forms may vary but the function is non-negotiable for a Christian who wants to obey the New Testament and experience life as God intended it. The Bible requires every believer in the church to experience on-going authentic relationships with a community of believers who practice the “one another” commands. The purpose of this series of articles is to biblically define ABC, to help the readers accurately assess whether they are experiencing ABC to the fullest and to determine what needs to be improved and strengthened in their present community experience.

Randy Frazee [Making Room for Life] points out that there are four reasons people never experience Christian ‘community”.

The first is consumerism – rights over responsibility. Some people come to Christian community in order to get instead of coming to give. They are consumers instead of contributors. They have a Mall mentality and possess no loyalty to the owner of the store. They are quick to buy elsewhere if it’s to their benefit. The reciprocal nature of the “one another” commands demands that we participate in Christian community to give rather than get. When we love others with no motive that it would be returned we begin to do damage to our natural tendency to be self-centered and selfish.

The second is individualism – independence over interdependence. Christian community isn’t a group of people in a circle holding hands but looking outward. The group first looks inward to depend on one another before looking outward to help others. Many parents have made it their goal to develop independent children and then are shocked when those children don’t think their “old man” has any wisdom to contribute to their lives. God wants us to raise “responsible” children not “independent” children. The body of Christ is to be interdependent. We need each other. God never intended for us to do life alone.

The third is isolation – privacy over transparency. With the privatization of religion in America we have been told that we are to keep our religion to ourselves. It is a private experience. The New Testament teaches that it is a community experience. Some church attenders are shocked when congregants haven’t noticed their absence or are aware of their pressing needs. The failure of others to recognize their absence or pressing needs in many cases is a greater commentary on the failure of the private person who has isolated himself from Christian’s community.  

The fourth is wrong priorities – temporal over the eternal. Whether it is intimacy in a marriage relationship or the wealth found in Christian community both are the products of prioritizing the relationship. If we are going to experience life in Christian Community it will require making room for life in an already busy schedule. The reality is that those things that we value in this life that surface to the top are our priorities. The things that we value are where we invest our time, treasure & talent. Many Christians have so overextended themselves that there is no time to experience Authentic Biblical Community. The best ABC occurs when believers meet together weekly and do IBM. IBM stands for In-Between-Meetings. When we do life together outside the group (shop, playground, meals, vacations, fishing, etc) then when we do meet the sharing is deeper. All this requires margin in our schedules. Don’t let life pass you by. Take the time to take a hard look at where you are investing your time and determine whether you’ll be happy with your choice 100 years from now.

Which of these four reasons hinders your participation or experience in Christian Community?

 To view week 1 click here

 To view week 2 click here

 To view week 3 click here