Committed to Jesus and to each other
This weekend, the community of faith I am a part of had a community garage sale to raise money for a friend of ours in need. It was a LONG weekend, but a really good one. In fact one of the best in the six+ months our little band of friends has been gathering. It was a good one because the garage sale was a beautiful glimpse into what the early church must have been like. Here we were, a group of friends committed to each other, hawking our junk for a small profit all in the names of compassion and generosity. It wasn't easy - we must have spent at least 15 hours or so together (most of that in the 100-degree heat). But it was good. In fact it was probably more fulfilling that any other church experience I have ever had. And for the past 24 hours I have been trying to figure out why.
The best answer I can come up with is that I experienced a deeper committment than I have ever experienced before from those I "church with". See, I have seen a deep committment to each other before inchurches I have been a part of, but usually that committment was really to the institution of the church. People committed themselves to the organization, much like they would a country club, a home owner's association, a political party, or a fraternity. In our community, there is no formal organization to commit ourselves to - no institution to make sure "survives" year-after-year, no "we-will-do-anything-to-make-sure-we-succeed" organization to buy into. Our community is a bunch of friendships connected to each other by a collective interest in the ways of Jesus. Our committment is to Jesus and to each other. We are discovering the beauty of such a thing.
I wonder if that is a major reason that the church seems to be impotent in America. I wonder if we are leading people to commit themselves - their finances, their talents, their time - to an organization. I wonder how the average American must view that. I wonder if the average American misses Jesus in the church because he's clouded by organization. I wonder if giving is perceived as dues. I wonder if "congregational meetings" are seen as council meetings. I wonder if evangelism is seen as recruitment. I wonder if meeting community needs are seen as dutiful philanthropy.
We wonder why Americans have trouble finding passion about their faith.
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I have come to believe in the past year that unless believers begin to share their finances as well as everything else, they cannot experience complete community.
Excellent post Zack
Jamie -
Thanks for the comment. I agree with you, but this isn’t easy. It seems at times so black and white (that we should no matter how much we possess) extend financial generosity to the other, but at other times it’s seems cloudy. I guess it’s a struggle that we need to continue to battle, but will probably never win.
It’s absolutely cloudy, but imagine trying to have community without it.
I fear that in our American culture we are prone to set up boundaries because it’s the “healthy” thing to do, rather than tread the dark waters of financial community.
We had a great time at dinner last night with you guys - it was a needed breath of fresh air to find commonality in our experience. Looking forward to more of that down the road!
I’m always up for food