Moving past "proximity" into "community".

We've just recently launched a "CONNECT: Friends & Family" group at Arlington Woods (hopefully one of many- what can I say, I'm a dreamer), where we provide an opportunity for people to connect on a regular basis over a meal. This is a model that we've borrowed from our incredible Young Adults group. It's pretty simple really. After a Sunday service, a group of us will head over to someone's home to share a meal together. There's a short devotional and there's an opportunity to pray for any needs/requests, but it's not meant to be some kind of in-depth Bible study. We're just trying to foster community.

It's a family-friendly group, meaning families with kids are welcome to participate, but it's also for anyone who feels that they've outgrown the "Young Adults" stage. Below, I just wanted to share a few thoughts as to why I feel groups like these are not only beneficial, but necessary for the health and growth of our church, or any church for that matter.

Acts 2:42-47 gives us a picture (actually, I like to think of it more as a model) of what a healthy, thriving church should look like.

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 

They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 

They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. 

And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

 Let's just breakdown those highlighted parts:

Fellowship: The dictionary defines "fellowship" as "a friendly relationship among people; the quality or state of being friends." When I hear that word, aside from Lord of the Rings, I think of a group of people socializing and enjoying friendship with each other.

Sharing meals together: Twice in these few verses we read that sharing meals together was an important aspect of Christian community, even mentioning that they did so with great joy and generosity. Included in these meals was their opportunity to remember the significance of Jesus' death by participating in the Lord's Supper. They didn't just pass crackers and juice around the table though. These were full-blown meals they shared.

Meeting in homes: These Christians would worship together in the Temple, but then they would meet in people's homes on top of that. When you invite people into your home, you are letting them into your lives. Allowing people to "invade your territory" means that you're being open and vulnerable. It means you're interested in investing time in relationships. The early church thought that community was worth cleaning the house and worth sacrificing a lazy night in front of the TV.

Enjoying the goodwill of all the people: What's "goodwill"? The dictionary describes it as a friendly feeling or attitude. I describe it as a "vibe", a feeling, a spirit of community and friendship. Isn't that what we long for in our church?

The passage wraps up by saying that the church kept growing with more and more people coming to know Jesus! I’m not sure if that would have happened if there wasn’t such a strong emphasis on building community and connecting with others.

It's really hard to get to know people when you might only get a few minutes to chat together before or after the Sunday service. It's even harder (sometimes impossible) when you've got young children demanding your attention. How can we encourage people when we don't really know them? How can we help people along in their faith journey if we don't know anything about them? How can we feel connected in a church if we don't feel anybody really knows us? When people sit beside each other in a movie theater or at a sports event, or even in a church, that's not automatically "community", that's just "proximity".