Holy Trinity Community Church
Fort Collins, CO, USA
For the past thirty-two years I have centered my life focus on learning what it means to live as a part of an intentional, committed, covenant Christian community. Why? Because the Scripture make plain that God’s deepest desire is for his people to love Him, one another, and to share that love with all people — and that simply cannot be done by an isolated individual.
Here are some significant lessons I have learned through extensive study, personal observation, and my own life experience from three specific Christian communities. Although the following could be expanded, putting them down as simple bullet points, offers the advantage of getting clear overview of the problems American Christians face. Listing these problems, opens the way to see what is needed, and suggest possible solutions (which I will do in the follow paragraphs).
• American Christians live, think and act very much like non-Christians. They have the same goals (i.e., material success, personal happiness, career advancement, etc.), the same problems (in great debt, schedules are over-committed, marital and family relationships are as fragmented and tumultuous), and lack the same moral depth (divorce is as common, as individualistic and “me” centered, lifestyle is aimed as much around pursuing comfort, rather than service).
• The economic pressures of the society have glued people to a way of life that demands heavy work loads to pay off large mortgages , credit card debt, and other expenses that flow from a fast pace life (eating out, childcare, house cleaning services, sponsoring sporting or other extra curricular events for the children, etc.).
• The above leaves little space or energy for the average Christian to give him/herself to meaningful prayer, study, relationships of depth within and outside one’s family, or to serve others in substantial ways (ministry) — in other words, the current state of affairs makes it nearly impossible for the American Christian to follow Christ. In essence, Jesus is “at the end of the line”, and gets what is left after everything else had second and third helpings; an overspent, weary, dazed, and worn-thin life.
• Even if Christians had the time and money, their way of life and thought is so distant from the life and teaching described Scripture that they would not even know what, where, or how to begin living a dedicated Christian life.
• Confusion as to how a Christian is to live as a faithful disciple today deepens given that even if contemporary Christians understood how Christians and lived Jesus’ teachings in the first centuries, the current cultural context is substantially different (different economic system, family structure, class system, pace of life, means of work to just name a few). What “worked” then, in many cases, simply has no place in this time.
• As a result of all of the above, many who profess Christ have “given up, and given in” to the prevalent culture. Life purpose is no longer about love and service, but about getting what you can now. Therefore, most who name the name of Christ are more interested in pursuing financial wealth, making a “name” for oneself, entertainment, buying more stuff (on and on) rather than knowing the God who loves them with perfect love.
• When those who have not received the revelation of God’s love look at “Christians” who do not seem to be “revealing” this love in how they live, they deduce that there is nothing there to see. The most amazing, stunning, and awesome display of God’s love and power in His coming to the earth in the flesh gets silenced by lives that seem to say that it is not as interesting, or exciting as other things one could do and be in this life.
So what is one to conclude? It certainly is not that the American Christian should give up following Christ because it is difficult. In past ages, Christians were severely challenged by families, governments and masters, calling them to renounce Christ or else face rejection, loss of income, or even their very own life. Such persecution has not diminished today, but actually is on the rise throughout the world. Christians in
“… a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. (Mark 10:36-39)
What is the solution? The first part of the answer lays in a resolve to be faithful to Christ, to follow Him no matter the obstacles. There is never a good excuse to answer the sacrificial love of God with a life of compromise. And God will give all the power one needs to be faithful, if he or she is committed to love God no matter what. The Lord is able to provide help and power, but it can only be received by those who refuse to look for exits when things get tough. God wants his people not to look for exits when under duress, but to look to Him. That is a part of what it means to be a follower of His Son.
With this firm commitment, possibilities open up. Without it, there is not a chance.
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But given that one wants “out” of the shackles of compromise and is committed to live a faithful Christian life, what would be required? Below I offer another bullet list that summarizes what I have learned. If one wishes to live for Christ in this time, and this society the following must be present.
• A commitment to be and do whatever the Lord asks. I’ve already stressed this more than once, but it cannot be underlined enough. If one would follow Christ, he or she must give their best (not leftover), their fullest (even above family sentiments, and career ambitions). To be a servant of God is not to be “in competition” with anything on earth. It is to follow the Lord as God, with a full heart. It is to give one’s soul and attention to love others the way Christ loves, and to worship God as God When asked what the Bibles teach is the most important thing that one must give oneself to, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the foremost commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.” (Matthew 22:35-39) Not an option for a few. A command. The foremost command.
• This person must seek out and join him/herself together with other of like mind and heart. There is too much going against a life of faithfulness to think that one can live a life of consecration and undistracted devotion on one’s own. Besides this obvious fact, the clear teaching of both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that God does not simply call individuals to do private devotions, or to occasional acts of service, but to lifestyle that teaches, invites, encourages,, and provides a living context to live in love.
• The Christian who would live faithful must begin to pray, and mean it when he/she prays. This means that the person receives instruction in how to pray, asks for accountability to stay faithful to pray, and joins others as they pray. At the beginning, the Christian will not be able to pray much – there is too little time, the mind is too distracted, and it all seems to unfamiliar. But when one begins to pray with intention and dedication, he or she will begin to see the love of God, and want to offer oneself in yet a fuller way. Of course, it is assumed that this person is in an environment that will help this Christian to grow in this area, given that he/she has already chosen to surround oneself with a company of other committed believers, many of whom know the way of prayer. All of the above applies toward one committing him/herself to the study, prayer and application of Scripture. Prayers need to be formed and directed by the prayerful study of God’s Word.
• The person must be teachable; ready to learn, and to apply what is learned. The Christian in
… learning how to make a budget, write a schedule, pastor one’s family, train one’s children (to be disciples of Christ, to be responsible), minister the love of God to others as singles, or as a family
…but perhaps chief among all, is to learn is how to simplify one’s life - learning how to limit expenses, and work less hours so as to allow more time to…
• pray, and study
• pastor and care for one’s family
• serve others both inside and outside of one’s Christian Community
• Enter into a ‘way of life’ that supports the ideals of love and faithfulness. The first Christian were called people of ‘the way” (Acts 9:2). They showed a way of life that illustrated what it meant to follow Jesus, he who said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life.” To follow Jesus, you joined with who through following his teaching, knew they way to life. It was essential then. It is essential today. Many can be inspired at a conference, seminar, or through a sermon or song, but many more times than not, the devotion wears thin and then dissolves into forgetfulness from failure of a life context. Inspiring words are good, but without a life to act upon them, they can actually numb a soul. The person may sincerely want to live what he or she has heard, but the lack of support, coupled together with ignorance as to how to sustain a faithful life is too much. The person is too “small and not enough” before the stresses, challenges and pressures of a culture that either directly or indirectly denies that living for Christ is “reasonable.”
The solution here is to learn from Christians of former ages who faced similar challenges. Instead of giving in the prevailing culture, and assimilating to a way of life that contradicted the very teachings of their Savior, these believers formed into orders, churches and other fellowships that presented a contrasting culture. These committed covenant communities looked to the New Testament for a pattern of life, a “way” that allowed them to look first seek God, then share what they learned with each other, and others.
Although are various expressions of this kind of life, each genuine Christian community has characteristics that was present in very the first Christian Church (as described in the New Testament book of Acts).[1]
1) They were together. They did not live “cross-town”, or simply see each other at “mid-week” meetings.
2) They were together continually. They lived close to one another so they could practically commit themselves to share their (Christian) life with one another. This is a part of what it means to live the Christian “covenant” (Matthew 26:28; Luke 1:72). One needs to do this if you plan on sharing his/her Christian life with others. It is needed today.
3) They devoted themselves learn, study, and apply Christian teaching. This was not a subject to be skimmed ‘on the side’, once other responsibilities no longer claimed their attention. It was the focus of their lives. In the teaching, they learned what life was about, and how to live it. Each authentic Christian community, throughout the centuries up to the present, commits to providing teach that will help people live faithful loving lives, and pastors an attitude and way of relating to it that says it merits your best attention and highest reverence.
4) They covenanted themselves not only to the Lord but — through Christ— committed their lives to one another. People in these communities were not here today, gone tomorrow, based on how they felt about it, or if something “better” came along. The committed (covenant) love of God in Christ gave them a pattern of how they were to live, treat, and relate with one another. On the basis of this commitment, they learned how to love others – as servants, sacrificially, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. More than anything, the cold, selfish individualism of our times needs to see that there is another way to live; and that it is a far and away better way of life.
5) Community is centered around worship and prayer. People of God gather together not simply to be together, but to be together before the Lord, and for the Lord. Genuine healthy Christian communities find their life in His life, and know that outside of reverent worship and a prayer-filled life, everything tends toward self-centeredness. If a People are to represent Christ and His ways, it is essential that they first know how to be present before Him. Without a living relationship with God in prayer, study, and service (all ways that the early Church understood the word “worship”), a community will look inward, and then implode, extinguishing itself on its self-centeredness.
6) Those in community live open, giving lives. The first Christians, and Christians who have formed honest communities, did not make a distinction between what is “mine” from what is “yours”. Although communities may differ on how practical aspects of possessions were shared, it is clear, that even those communities that did not put everything into a “common pot” considered that as their lives were not their own, but Christ’s (1 Corinthians 6:19). Let his love lead them to do whatever would most please Him; giving to those in need within the fellowship, offering the very fellowship of love to the world.
In each characteristic above, it becomes obvious that the inspiration and foundation behind the why, what and how of Christian community is a vision of the love of God. Community is the sane man or woman’s response to the infinitely deep love of God.
To see the love of God – his commitment to us, his trustworthiness, his generosity, his sacrificial love, his patience, his nearness, his desire to teach and train us that we might serve with His Son for all eternity …it just goes on and on even to infinity. It just is heavy, too big, too much. We cannot even come close to receive (and then to share) this love with the “thimble sized” lifestyle American lifestyle present to us. We want to “answer” His love in full measure, with a full life given over to Him. Who would want to place limits upon what He would wish to share with us. And what greater honor could there be then for God to trust us, and give us the opportunity to give ourselves back to Him, and then to others, in the same way.
This is what I and others have been committed to for years. By God’s mercy, we have experienced a significant transformation in how we think and live. But we have just begun. There is much more that we have yet to learn. We have a lot yet to live before our vision and way connect at several points. But, nonetheless, we have made a commitment and, and by his strength, it will not be giving up or given away. We will make the sacrifice, we will believe (what to others seems like) the “unbelievable.” This commitment has been tested several times, and it will be tested several times more (I have no doubt).
Why can I say this. Two reasons. Prayer, study of Scripture, Church history, modern research, and life in and out of Christian Community have convinced me that such distinct way of life is not a luxury, but a necessity if there will there will be an authentic testimony to the love of God in our time and place. And that leads me to the second reason. The love of God. It is just too great to turn from. I realize that numbers have turned from his love, but if one commits to a lifestyle of “look[ing] at Him who is unseen” [Hebrews 12:27], he/she receives power beyond oneself to keep steadfast. And to turn from seeing Him …why? To see “what”? No. Let it be the other way around. Let those who have yet to see God’s great love, turn from what they are looking at for life, and look at our ‘way’, His way, … to Him. Certainly few things could fill us with more pleasure if the testimony of our lives be used of Father in this way. I know it would be pleasing to Him as well.
If such thoughts resonate in your soul as you finish reading this, do this now. Take a moment and pray, offering Him yourself without reserve. Then stay there before Him and wait until you sense it is time to seek out others who are share your commitment to look to Him, not just for a moment, but as a way of life.
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