​

Do you know your next door neighbors?  Do you ever talk to them?  What about the people across the street?  If you are like most Americans today, you may know who these people are and you may converse periodically, however you don’t know very many other folks who live on your street, let alone anything about their life journey.

​

These are very different times from my experience growing up in Dallas, Texas in the 1960’ –‘70’s.  We knew just about every kid in the neighborhood and spent time in their yards and in their homes.  We knew their parents and their parents knew us.  Yes, there were those people that you did not dare get on their grass, let alone play football in their yard, but without a doubt, the neighborhood was a more welcoming place than today by far.

​

What happened? 

 

Somewhere along the line it seems that building privacy fences and desiring to be left alone crept in.  Oh, we will go to church and other social functions with like-minded people, but our homes started to become personal sanctuaries to escape from other people and the world in general.  Some have become actual fortresses to just keep the world out, after all those people don’t think like I do.  Am I right?

​

Also, have you ever been in someone’s home and felt uncomfortable because everything was in its perfect place?  Some of us have allowed or homes to become “show palaces” instead of the place where we live.  After all it has to look like that house we saw on HGTV, so don’t mess up anything.

​

A simple truth is that as human beings, “living” is messy in every way that you can get messy.  That can mean with your family, your closest personal relationships or the entire community in which you reside.  As humans we are imperfect, therefore living is going to be imperfect.

​

I have always found it interesting that God, in His sovereignty, has chosen imperfect people to point the way to His perfect Son.  Guess what, it is called “Grace” and God gives it to us freely.  Because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross, God accepts us with our imperfection.  Can we accept the imperfection of other humans?

 

I submit that one of the reasons that we are so culturally divided in America is because we no longer really know each other.  There is no real sense of “community” anymore.  Do you think people would say the things they do on social media if they really knew person they were talking about?

​

The Bible teaches:

​

After God created man, “Then the Lord said, ‘it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him’”.  Genesis 2:18

​

Community was born!  Families developed and doing life together began.

​

Webster’s dictionary offers this definition of “community”:

​

A unified body of individuals, such as:

a. the people with common interests living in a particular area

b. a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests

c. a group linked by a common policy

d. an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location

e. STATE, COMMONWEALTH

​

Think about this definition as it relates to the idea of community in our American culture today.  For me, it resonates on every level.  We may disagree on certain issues, but as Americans, we have a common history and we should agree on the very basic fundamentals of our constitutional republic as we all want and seek “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.  We all can be unified at some level.

​

In order for our country to work, we simply have to do life together.  We have to know each other and talk about what is important to us and our families.  This is how we begin to find common ground and make decisions for the good of the people.

​

There are many benefits to living in community.  In community we can encourage one another, provide help, protect and yes, have fun!

​

The Book of Acts records how the early church in Jerusalem lived in Christian community.  Acts Chapter 2 verses 42-47 reads:

​

“42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

​

Hey, I get that some of what they were doing may sound “spooky” to you in our cultural context.  We have heard of and seen people manipulated with false doctrines and cult behavior in communal living.  Rest assured, this was not the case described here with the Jerusalem church and can be evidenced by God’s blessing on the church.

​

The Greek word translated as “fellowship” in verse 42 is “Koinonia” and means sharing deeply in the lives of other believers.  This was not just being friendly and hanging out occasionally. 

​

If you carefully read the text, you find that they were interacting with and taking care of one another both spiritually and physically.  They learned about their Heavenly Father and they spoke to one another.  They ate together and prayed together. 

​

Verse 44 says “And all who believed were together and had all things in common”. 

 

This is not early “Communism” as giving was voluntary not mandated.  Also, you will note that they maintain personal possessions because they met in their respective homes, etc.  Simply put, this was Christian community doing life together in a God-honoring, loving and concerned manner.

​

If you study the life of Christ, one basic truth is that he penetrated the culture he lived in without conforming to the culture.  He brought “light” into darkness and offered a better way of living with the true “abundant life”.  Jesus was relational as he interacted with the people of his community no matter their social status.

​

In a friendly dialogue with a scribe, Jesus is asked “which is the first commandment of all?”  Jesus answers by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4:

​

 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29-30).

​

 Then Jesus told the scribe:

​

 “The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these”.  (Mark 12:31)

​

Wow!  Love our neighbor!  Are “We the People” really following this instruction?

 

Who is my neighbor you say?  Our neighbor is our fellow human beings. 

 

Well, in spite of all that is wrong in our culture, I do believe that “love does conquer all”.  Love can come in many forms, including “tough love”.  However, at its core, I believe that love means a genuine concern for the best welfare of another human being.  The Bible uses the Greek word “philadelphia”, which really does mean brotherly love, to describe the love we should have for our fellow humans.

 

Can you imagine what would happen if we began to approach life and community with a genuine love for our fellow human beings?  You can’t fake genuine love.  Our fellow citizens will begin to recognize the sincerity of our genuine love and a platform of communication will be established.  We begin to know each other and when we truly know each other, many of the barriers of doing life together are removed.

​

“We the People” need to engage our present culture without conforming to it.  Let’s establish “communities” based on the core principle of genuine love for our fellow man. It won’t be easy because so much has changed in our culture.  However, if we care about the souls of men and our children and grandchildren, we will answer the “call”.

​

Let’s make the days that God gives us count for His glory and a true American revival will start.  Let’s live “out loud”.  Reach out to your neighbors, co-workers and members of your community.  Love them first and foremost as children of God.  Learn their stories, break bread together and offer help if needed.  I guarantee walls will begin to crumble and we will find that we have far more in common on a basic human level than we have differences.  Let’s focus on one family, one street, one neighborhood, one community, one state at a time.  Then we will be back on the road to a more unified country.

​

Remember the greatest commandment is “to Love God and Love others”!

 

Truly “In God We Trust”!