Get Real, Part 5 May 23, 2011
My goal for this “Get Real” miniseries of columns has been pretty straightforward: to foster authenticity and genuine community within our church. Every time I watch a superhero movie, I ponder what superpowers I would like to have. I’ll admit, I have a hard time narrowing down the list; but I can promise you one ability that I don’t think any one of us needs: invisibility. I certainly hope you share these values of authenticity and community. After all, why would you attend an actual meeting of the church if all you want is to hear a sermon and sing some songs? You can get that alone in your living room at home just watching TV.
It’s been a long series of columns, so let me quickly review. Why do we need authenticity? Because, as I argued in Part 1, it heals us. Furthermore, as we saw in Part 2, God made us for community: “It is not good that man should be alone.” So how do we pursue it? First, fight sin in your own life because even private sin makes community impossible (Part 3). Second, live the gospel with others (Part 4). The first step is directly inward; the second is outward. There’s probably more to it than these two things, but I am pretty sure that these two are at the very heart of the matter.
One more thing before we leave this thread and take up another subject. I think we’re going to need some very powerful motivation if we’re going to break out of our comfortable but uninspiring habits and pursue community like this. We need more than technique; we need inspiration. So how about this…
The Apostle John takes up the theme of community in his first letter, and he hits it pretty hard. He’s arguing with all his might for close fellowship, extolling our love for each other, commending forgiveness, going on and on. But just a couple verses into the subject, he gives us his motive for writing: “We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 Jn 1:4). Catch it? He’s stirring them up to pursue community so that his joy and theirs will be full, perfect, complete. So there you go…
Want to be fully, perfectly, completely happy? Get real.