Authentic community?

Today I was really a happy camper. Ask students to do something, tell them why (and make sure it is a worthwhile cause!), and let them at it. Today my junior high students were awesome. They cleaned, fixed and worked for nothing (although they all netted a free drink, but that's pretty insignificant in comparison) except for the fact that it went to help people.

That is something sadly missing in a lot of communities, not to mention the idea of real community. The very word talks about its key: unity in common. Not that I have any idea about word roots and things like that, I was a religion and philosophy major, not an English major. However, the point remains: community is about being in unity around something you share in common. That is something we try to build here, authentic community. Authentic community is a place where people gather and are treated well regardless of their social, economic, or age status. That doesn't happen often today, yet it is at the heart of what it means to be the church.

The bad joke about the first car in the Bible comes to mind, "And they were all in one Accord." Sounds like one of those car packing contests to me! But, really, the point is the unity: the disciples were all about one thing, they worked together and went out for one reason. That reason went beyond them and defined them for who they really were. That is what the church must be! A place defined by its mission, not a mission defined by its place! So, go do something with other people and build community through sweat!

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