58 to 0

My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Jon and Dotty Zens a couple of weeks ago. It was an honor spending time with them and hearing stories of their travels around the world. They have been encouraging relational fellowships since 1977 so their knowledge is not only based on the Word but founded on real life experiences. 58 to 0, How Christ Leads Through The One Anothers is a fabulous book. It’s meatier than some of his other books, so be prepared. I have included an excerpt below. You can check out his website here.

Years ago, Vernon Grounds wrote an article about “the fellowship of porcupines.”  He noted that all of us are capable of poking one another in hurtful ways. The DNA of Christ in us longs for a community of shared life in Christ. But, as Henri Nouwen observed, the path to vibrant community “is hard and full of difficulties,” (H. Nouwen, Reaching Out, p. 46).

From the Lord’s perspective and purpose, He birthed the ekklesia on earth to express and display His Son. And through the ekklesia, He makes His wisdom known to the principalities and powers that rule in the heavenlies, thereby, His reign and love in the ekklesia will be seen by the watching world, (Ephesians 3:10; John 13:35).

Thus, despite the numerous obstacles and challenges to a believing community, fully functioning ekklesia is not optional, but the vitality and the heart of God’s eternal purpose in Christ. Followers of Christ on earth are faced with living in a serious tension within the messiness of His family, yet nevertheless, continuing to pursue Him together as those captured by His eternal purpose for His Son to have a Bride.

Nouwen crisply captured the essence of community when he called it “a joyful togetherness of spontaneous people,” (H. Nouwen, Reaching Out, p. 15). 

So why do we find it so difficult to live the shared life of Christ with others? Why does a believing community seem to blossom so infrequently? I think it would be beneficial to touch upon some of the formidable challenges that we must wrestle with in the context of community.

Every culture has its peculiar characteristics that give believers a sure test of faith as they follow Jesus. Here are four to reflect upon.

1. Mobility: In our era, mobility is an issue in most places in the world. But in America it seems that many people are too mobile! Folks do not remain in the same place long enough to establish community with other believers. They are always moving for a variety of reasons. This makes it not only difficult, but near impossible to develop community together. Usually the parting takes place before the bond of Christ takes root through knowing Him in and through one another.

2. Distance: Many Americans drive long distances one-way from home to the church building of their choice. The fact remains that deepening relationships cannot be built from a distance. Living within reasonable proximity to one another facilitates community Life. Authentic community is the everyday things and everyday life that we share together.

3. Individualism: We live in a culture where, for the most part, people have built walls around themselves, and they don’t want to let any body in. People live in subdivisions and have never met their neighbors. “Jeremy Seabrook refers to the ‘strangers who live where neighborhoods once were’…. It may be stated strongly that we have witnessed a striking increase in the sense of separate, differentiated identity and a corresponding sharp decline in the sense of community and belonging,” (Paul L. Wachtel, “America, Land of Lost Community,” Searching Together, 38:3-4, 2012, p. 29).

Given that believers have usually been infected with forms of individualism, it takes a fresh revelation from Christ in order for them to see that in the Spirit they are part of a Body in which they receive from and give to the other parts, (1 Cor. 12:13).

4. Materialism and Consumerism: Most Americans feel pressured to devote a lot of time to obtaining and maintaining their things and their career.  Building Christ-centered communities will involve each follower re-visiting how they use their time, money and resources. Community flows out of believers giving priority to Christ in others, not to pouring time and resources into things that will perish. Bruce Springsteen captured the spirit of this in “Blood Brothers”:

We played king of the mountain out on the end away
The world come chargin’ up the hill, and we were women and men
Now there’s so much that time, time and memory fade away
We got our own roads to ride and chances we gotta take
We stood side by side, each one fightin’ for the other
We said until we died, we’d always be blood brothers

Now the hardness of this world slowly grinds your dreams away
Makin’ a fool’s joke out of the promises we make
And what once seemed black and white turns to so many shades of gray
We lose ourselves in work to do and bills to pay
And it’s a ride, ride, ride, and there ain’t much cover
With no one runnin’ by your side my blood brother

It is with great sadness that we must observe that the churches people see on the street corners are not counter-cultural, but for the most part they acquiesce to American cultural norms. Is it any wonder that we do not see the Life of Christ in believers coming to expression in vital community? The very church structures themselves-both the buildings and the hierarchy-tend to foster mobility (people hopping from one church to the next), distance (relationships are not developed), individualism (no cultivation of body-life), and materialism/consumerism (church budgets need so much to pay for the buildings, the upkeep, their image, and the salaries).