Saturday, January 19, 2008

relationship and community

Question:
God created us to live in "relationship" and "community" with Him and with each other. Briefly discuss the importance of both terms and how they affect the way we do personal evangelism in a contemporary world.

Answer:
Everyone, everywhere is looking to find relationships and build community. We all want to feel loved and significant and that tends to occur most when we are in community with others. If you take a look at all aspects of our current culture you will find community as much in culture as in the church. Why do you think sporting events and concerts are so popular? Some people find significance in large communities. I think it is awesome that XBOX 360 just came out with a new game called Rock Band. This game requires four players too each play a separate instrument, but play together in one band. Even the video game industry is grabbing a hold of the idea of community. Some people find significance in the smaller communities.

We as followers of Christ have many things in common with the world. We have a choice to ignore these things or to embrace them and quite honestly use them. I am a youth pastor and the first thing I do when a new student comes to church on Sunday morning is ask them what school they go to and then introduce them to the students we have that attend the same school. After this I will show them our game room and gym and explain how there is so much community here on Sunday nights and they are welcome to come join the community. There is comfort in community. So much of our world is looking for comfort from the pain they are going through. If we can create a sense of community (comfort) in our evangelism, and not stray from the fact that we were made for community, then we as followers of God may begin to see lives radically transformed.

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