I’m not one for novel or new ideas when it comes to God’s Word.  In fact, I have often said from the pulpit that any new idea you might have about the Bible is either wrong or has already been thought by somebody else.  That being said, I am opening my next statement up for critique as I have never read what I’m about to write in a commentary.  So, either I’m wrong or somebody much smarter than me already said it.

In the past 3 posts I have discussed living in community from my point of view but what about Jesus’ point of view?  As Christians we believe that Jesus is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father.  He was not created like me.  He always has been and He always will be.  That being said, Jesus has always known perfect community.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; 1 God, 3 persons working perfectly together as a unified will all for their own glory (that might sound funny and opens the door for another post later on but if you want a quick answer just start reading anything by John Piper).

Before Jesus chose to humble himself to become the God man He knew perfect fellowship and community in the Trinity.  While He was here on earth he experienced community in the ways that we experience it:  imperfect, often selfish, bickering, backbiting, sold out by a friend, giving grace to others, encouraged at times with progress but discouraged other times with the wrong answers.  So Jesus experienced community in heaven and community on earth.  Was there a time that He did not experience community?  I initially thought about His 40 days in the wilderness where He was alone and being tempted by Satan.  Then I read in Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit…”.  I thought about other times in His life and couldn’t think of another time when He was outside of community either with His disciples or with the Father as He is seen often getting away to be alone with the Father.

And then I remembered Jesus words in Matthew 27:46 “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”  At that moment Jesus was alone.  Shunned by the earthly and the heavenly.  Humanity hung him on a tree to be crucified as they cast their final vote to reject the Messiah and God the Father breaks community with the Son because the sins of the world must be judged.  Jesus carried every sin at that moment and the Father turns His face from the Son and treats him the way that we deserved to be treated.  The righteous one for the unrighteous.  The one who knew no sin for those who are sinners.  Broken community so that we could have unbroken community.

So, when I break from community in heaven and on earth I am rejecting one of the good gifts that Jesus gave me through the spilling of His blood.  I mock what He did not have at that moment and though my earthly community is imperfect it has moments of splendor where I can see glimmers of what heaven might be like.

I’m open to your thoughts and I’m sure somebody already said it better.  May we never take for granted anything that Christ has provided.

On Sunday evening, our Missional Community went down to Idlewild Park to pray before the Reno Air Races Memorial.  While I was waiting for the others to arrive I was getting a little down.  As a pastor, Sunday’s can be very difficult at times.  I prepare a sermon weekly which needs to make theological sense, is something people want to / need to hear, is presented well, and is something I actually believe myself.  When you add that on top of my own emotions, spiritual warfare, and dealing with lots of different kinds of people, it often means that after Sunday service is over I want to crawl into a hole and not appear again until Tuesday.

It’s in those times that I start rehearsing reasons to not live in community:

1.  Living in community means you must put forth effort and everything that takes effort is tough.

2.  Living in community means you are open to others even when you are tired.

3.  Living in community means that people won’t act the way that you want them to act.

4.  Living in community means that you will be let down by the same people you are counting on.

5.  Living in community means that people will see ugly sides of you.

There are many advantages to living in community but people cannot be our goal.  If and when that happens we have lost focus and we will be disillusioned.  Our goal must always be Christ.  He must be at the center of everything that we do and at the center of every community that we live in.

And then I cheered up.  I was not at the park for my community.  I was there for Christ.  They all showed up and we had a great time together but had they not come I would not have been disappointed.  Christ was there.  That was enough.

I believe that general revelation (aspects of God seen through nature) is often under appreciated.

As I wrote last time, I have been thinking about and attempting to live in community at my church.  It’s no small task but I believe that it’s in community where we learn to be disciples of Christ.  Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 4:19, “Come, and follow Me, and I will make you fisher’s of men.”  This established the community that the disciples entered but before that Jesus chose to enter our world.

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  This “Word” refers to Jesus Christ and is the same “Word” referred to in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  In eternity past, Jesus (the 2nd person of the Trinity, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father) chose a time (1 Timothy 2:6) when He would become a man (Matthew 1:18ff).  In this decision, Jesus chose to leave a perfect community (the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; One God, three persons), and enter into an imperfect community (humanity).

There’s an interesting word in John 1:14 that also sheds light on how Jesus lived in community with us.  The word “dwelt” means “to live in a camp as in a tent” and hearkens the new Testament readers mind back to the Old Testament when the Lord “Tabernacled” or “dwelt” with his people (Exodus 25:8).  So, when Jesus “dwelt” among us, it means more than just walking around the earth in proximity of people.  He actually camped out with us and lived in our community.

We were made to be in communion with our Maker.  We were made to be in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We were made to be in communion with humanity.  1 Corinthians 11:23-34 discusses the Lord’s Supper which is often seen as emphasizing our vertical relationship but verse 33 also discusses our horizontal relationships:  ”So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.”

These ideas have been gnawing at me for many months now and I have come to the conclusion that I MUST choose to be in community and I MUST make radical changes in my life to accomplish that.  So, what will you do?

At my church (Coram Deo Christian Church) we have been talking a lot about Community lately.  It’s a subject that I know little about.  I suppose some of that is my own doing, some of it my culture, and some of it the state of the church in America.  There are so many lies to believe when it comes to community:

1.  I don’t have the time to live life with other people.

2.  I put my time in at church so I don’t need to be around other Christians more than that.

3.  God does not call me to spend time with others outside my family.

4.  I don’t need to have people over to my house as that is inconvenient for me.

5.  I don’t want people knowing the real me.

6.  I can learn to be a disciple of Christ outside of community.

I have made many of these excuses myself and I am ashamed.  The problem was not the clarity of the Bible but my heart that hates being moved, challenged, opened, changed, or stretched in uncomfortable ways.  I had to face the facts that I don’t like being around people who aren’t like me.  I could put up a front long enough at church but inviting them over to my home for long periods of time was another story.

And then came Jesus…

Matthew 4:19 “Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, Follow Me, and I will make you fisher’s of men.’”

Jesus didn’t choose to train his apostles in lectures, studies, take home notes, or seminars.  He chose to train them in and through community.  I’m sure there were plenty of times when one of the apostles wished that the others weren’t around.  Luke 9:46 “An argument arose among them as to who was the greatest.”  But the training to become a disciple of Jesus included other people who were with you, around you, sharing your food, abusing your rights, and making you feel uncomfortable.  Jesus knew it would be uncomfortable for them but He still said, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fisher’s of men.”

Next time, “the Word became flesh”…

Kids can do great things:  http://wimp.com/soccervillage/

My brother, Dallas Lange, works as the Community Partnership Chaplain for the Portland Rescue Mission.  He does a great job and sends me highlights now and again of people who they have helped or partnered with to bring dramatic change in their lives.  The video below is really amazing.  It highlights the Portland Rescue Mission and Community of Adsideo, a church in downtown Portland.

A couple of weeks back, a group of people from my church, Coram Deo, took a tour of the Reno / Sparks Gospel Mission (Facebook page).  It was amazing to see all the ways that the Mission is successfully helping people put their lives back together.  This video represents how churches and missions can work together to bring real change into peoples lives.

Video:  Resurrection Larry

As a pastor, I have run into a lot of people who’s lives have been ruined by drugs and alcohol.  It’s sad to see some who were so young that they had no idea what they were getting themselves into.  There is one drug that I continue to see that most tell me is “harmless”.  Here’s a new study that says otherwise: “Youth Marijuana Use Linked To Psychosis In Later Life”.

Caleb walks around singing these 2 songs all the time.  I finally got it on film with a little help from big sister.