“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – Jesus the Christ (John 13:34-35)
It’s no wonder, and is a beautiful fact, that Christianity is done in community. True, there are hermits, and those on the fringe who feel called to abandon themselves in the place of solitude and singularity of one-on-one communion with the Lord. However, I believe that is more the exception than the rule. Christianity, I believe, is meant to be lived out in community with one another because humanity is meant to be lived out with one-another. True, this complicates things. This means I must bear my humanity (good and bad) with you, as I accept you for who you are. In time, (in our walk with Christ) we will see the ugliness in each other, and in that place we must learn to see the beauty in each other and point each other towards that; because the Holy Spirit in us is always beautiful, regardless of what is being purified.
Vanier wrote in “Community and Growth”:
The more a community grows and puts down roots, the more it must discover its own deep meaning and own philosophy of life, which cannot be cut off from the fundamental questions of the world and of the Church. The more it lives authentic human relationships, and the more it becomes a place to live in rather than a gathering of ‘doers’, the more it must find answers to the fundamental questions of human life. It must give meaning to suffering and death, to healing and to wholeness, to the place of man and woman in society and in the world, and sexuality, family and celibacy. It must be clear about the use of power, the role of authority, and about the meaning of growth to freedom and responsibility. It must have a deep sense of the place of God, prayer and religion in human existence. It must have a vision about poverty and wealth, and clarity about the relationship between love and competence (p. 112).
I’m learning that community doesn’t work as an amoebic gobbly gook of no authority, relativistic truth, and mixed philosophies of how to live in community. As tempting as egalitarian community may be, I’m starting to see how it will truly fall apart without loving, relational authority, enduring foundational truth (found in Christ and the Word), and shared values of how to live together. There can be discussion on these topics, and on how they’re best lived out, but there must be a strong foundation, or else the community will crumble.