People

I love community. Love talking to people, listening to people, praying together, laughing together, singing together. I love the whole package. But even with all the beautifulness of Christian community, it sure can get annoying. In my opinion, if you aren't building up the people around you, if you're not helping the people around you become better people, then I think whatever you're doing besides that is pointless. Maybe sometimes among my group of pals I come across as the "mom" and i get way too defensive when it comes to my friends and the decisions that they do or don't make. I have to be careful because through that sometimes I seek my own self-righteousness and the feeling of proving to the world that my point is right. I really think that in Christian community, you not only have the responsibility of helping your pals grow and be better, but also you must listen to what other people say, people that you trust. It's not always about dishing out the advice or calling out the wrong actions. It's also about learning from each other and listening to each other. We Christians are pro's at sitting and hearing preaching from the preacher dude or listening to Godly wisdom but then walking right out the door like we never heard anything. Change and growth needs to happen to follow Christ. Following is an action. When you're following someone, you don't just stop halfway through and say "screw it, I'm gonna still do my own thing." Why? Because you'll get left. This annoyance isn't just something I thought about on the ride home. It's in fact the peak of my frustrations at the current moment. I get frustrated with community when I see us not acting according to the gospel. And I'm not Jesus in this story. If anything I'm a selfish pharisee who gets told what to do by Jesus but calls it whack and continues down my own road sometimes. Talking about these things within the given community helps. The good word tells us to seek out our pals and chat about what's up (not exactly in those words, but you get it) But I don't know what happens when the person won't listen. I haven't figured out that part yet, readers. Most of the people I roll with these days are younger than I am, and me and Jesus have had our own set of battles with solely that sentence. But what i feel called to be lately is not the 23 year-old know it all, but someone who builds other people up. No matter what the age. We are called to love our neighbor and unfortunately we dont get to pick who that is. So younger or older, God wants me to help my friends be better people if I can, and hopefully we'll all mature in the way that God defines maturity. And I pray really hard that that is the the goal for others so that they can build me up and tell me when i'm wrong when i screw up. Community that is worth anything does not function without Jesus. It simply can't and won't. And I'm a firm beleiver that He would call us to build up and listen to each other and love each other deeply, and help to change each other. Just a thought.