There are many reasons why people don’t believe in Jesus. Some intellectual (doubts and objections), some emotional (pain and suffering) and some relational (the church sucks!). In this blog post I want to look at number 3 and talk about our third value as a church: community, which guides us to fulfil our vision of making a positive impact in the city of Dublin spiritually, culturally and socially.
The longest prayer of Jesus that is recorded in the Bible is in John 17. It is here, more than in any other place, that we get to hear what Jesus cares most about. We get to listen in to an intimate conversation as Jesus pours out his heart to his father. We are clearly treading on holy ground. So what does Jesus pray for? He prays for his church. More specifically, he prays for unity and love within the church.
I pray for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one…that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-24)
Jesus prays that his disciples and the subsequent generation of believers will be as united as Jesus is united to his father. And why does he do that? Because the love and unity of the church is the greatest message that Jesus is alive.
So, as cheesy as it may sound, we think there are four things that make up genuine community.
Crying. The Bible says we are to mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). One of the signs of genuine community is that when someone in that community suffers, you share in that suffering. You love them so much and are so united with them that you feel their pain. We want to be a community that cries together.
Celebration. Similarly, when you love someone dearly, their joy becomes your joy. You feel lifted up when you celebrate their best moments. This is clearly seen at a wedding when we get to share the joy of the couple and celebrate with them. We want this to be a marker of our community; we find out what matters to each other, and when something good happens,we celebrate. We will aim to do this with lots of food and wine, just as Jesus did at the wedding at Cana.
Confession. Arguably the greatest marker of genuine community is vulnerability, to be truly known and loved. We live so much of our lives with masks on pretending to be something we are not, hiding from reality and trying to prove ourselves. When you know someone really loves you and cares for you, all that can stop and you can confess you sins and doubts, your struggles and insecurities, your worries and your pains. Once these things have been confessed and talked about within a loving community, their power over our lives is loosened and we become free whilst still accepted.
Chilling. You know you’re good friends with someone when you don’t have to talk, you can just ‘be’ with them. And in the same way we want to be a community where we share our whole lives with people. We have fun together, we do normal things together, we ‘chillax” as some people like to say (not me!).
How do we become this community? How do we love each other like this? It comes from experiencing the love God has for us, as Jesus says in John 17, the same love that the Father has for the Son. We hope that if you are visiting our community on a Sunday or in a City Group, that you will experience the hope, love and joy that comes from a community of people who love Jesus and each other.
**This is part 4 of a series of 6 looking at our vision and values. The vision of Christ City Church Dublin is to make a difference to the city spiritually, culturally and socially. Our four values are mission, discipleship, community and leadership. Check out more on our vision and values page.