Authentic Community

Community is something we all want, but sometimes, we can have a hard time finding it. Especially a true, authentic community that extends further than just a gathering of people. In the age of digital culture, it can be even more difficult navigating relationships with “friends” that seem to exist solely online. Facebook tells me I have 582 friends, and you probably have even more. While these platforms tout the ability to make us more connected than ever, in reality, they can often leave us feeling empty, alone, and isolated.

We also live in a time of convenience, making it possible to live our entire lives online and in our homes. From the comfort of our favorite chair, we can go to work, shop, watch movies, “attend” church, talk to a doctor, converse with friends, and almost any other activity or interaction you can think of. Under the pretense of ease, we’ve given up the very thing that gives us life.

But God never intended for us to live like this, saying of man, “it is not good for him to be alone.” So what does a lifestyle like this do to us? It isolates us and encourages us to keep our focus narrowly pointed inward. When we have these relational blinders, we lose the joy of what we were divinely designed to do: live in community. Loving and caring for others is what God wills for us, and what He instructs us to carry forward so that we may point others towards Him. In this shifting of focus from self to others, we return back to this divine joy. These commands are even embedded into our DNA; during stress, women release a particular hormone, encouraging them to seek connection and support from other women. It is by design that we seek and desire relationships.

So how do we get there? How do we find time in our busy lives to connect with the women around us? You take the first step. Invite someone from your LifeGroup to go to coffee. Volunteer to serve at VBS. Sign up for that Bible study. Come to a Women’s Ministry Gathering. Offer to teach kids on Sunday morning. Make a decision to engage. And, do these things NOT for what you’ll take away for yourself, but do these things as a step in obedience to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those He put in your path.

I read an article not too long ago that defined biblical community this way: “it is about serving together, helping each other through trials, reminding each other of the gospel, lifting each other up when we fall, praying for one another, and urging one another on in the faith. And ultimately, it is reflecting Christ in our love for one another, imaging Him to the fallen world around us.”  It’s about creating a space where women feel safe to share their dreams and disappointments, their happiness and their heartbreak, their successes and their failures, their questions and their faith.  We need people around us who are real.

Don’t settle for an isolated life. Oh friends, there is so much more! And we need you. We need your story and we need your gifts. Our community needs you. And that is by God’s design.