It seems like much of the literature I read on Small Groups these days has a lot to say about community, and for good reason. The foundation of a healthy, thriving small group is a deep sense of shared community. As I mentioned before, here at WSCC we focus on three aspects of community: God, one another, and the outside world. But these are not separate communities; rather, they are all part of a grander picture. Think of it as variations on a theme, to borrow a concept from the world of music. We desire to share in deep, rich community with God, which leads us into a fuller sense of community with one another, and propels us to take the redemption message to those outside of the Christian community.
And God himself is the picture of this (John 17.20-26). True community looks like God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all exist and share in perfect community. Three distinct persons, but one marvelous community. And the richness of that shared community propelled God to extend the glorious invitation to us to enter into community with Himself and with one another. And when man broke that community, God took the initiative and provided a way to restore us, inviting us back into that community.
We see a reflection of this (though not perfectly) in the most intimate of human relationships. That’s why scripture uses the metaphor of marriage to describe Christ’s relationship to the church. Ten years ago today my wife and I got married. We desired to share in a fuller sense of community, a union of oneness. And then, after a few years of marriage, we desired to extend the community to others, so we had kids. Now, ten years, three kids, and two minivans later, we have seen our “community” grow, and we’ve experienced joy beyond what we knew possible.
So how does this impact our groups? If we know and experience rich community with one another and with God, we need to celebrate that community. Maybe we need to give some thought on how to extend an invitation to someone outside the community we share? Definitely, when thinking about our community, we need to quit asking so much what true community looks like, and start asking who true community looks like.
