Why Community?

Whatever your worldview, it's likely you see community as integral to humanity. Humans are communal creatures. We exist as families, friends, teams, and tribes. Community is also central to the Christian story -- to the point that identity as an individual is inseparable from identity found in community.

Community is central to our story

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, spells out the Christian narrative on community quite clearly. Humans were made to be in a relationship with God and each other (see Genesis 1:26; 2:18; 3:18). God in and of Himself is relational and exists as a mysterious Three-in-One entity, termed the Trinity by Christians (see Matthew 3:16; 28:19). Even the concept of sin, which is the "fault line" that runs through the Christian narrative, stems from the time Adam and Eve rejected God's advice because they wanted to be more independent (see Genesis 3). The result was that humanity became self-centered instead of God- and community-centered.

Our purpose is carried out in the context of community

Christians believe that every single human being has purpose, and central to that purpose is our calling -- or vocation, as we sometimes call it. This concept of vocation is not confined to our job or career; it encompasses all aspects of our lives: our family, our friends, our role in the economy, and our local and global citizenship.

Our vocation was defined for us when God created humanity in His image (see Genesis 1:27) and essentially said, "go take care of the earth" (see Genesis 1:28) and "be My likeness in the communities you operate in" (see 1 Corinthians 7:17). Every person contributes according to their skillset, personality, intellect, etc. In this way we function as the "mask of God" in every community: marriage, family, neighborhood, and beyond.

As Christians, central to our purpose as humans is not individualism, but loving and serving other people, our "neighbors" (see Matthew 22:37-40). God intended this from the beginning of creation. And the concept of neighbor isn't just confined to the folks we like or get along with; it also includes people in need and people with whom we'd rather not be associated with (see Luke 10:29).

The kingdom of God

The biblical narrative tells us that as much as humans have tried to live in community the way God intended, sin has always been a barrier. Sin causes us to be driven by our own (often selfish) desires -- not the needs of our communities. But Jesus, through His death and resurrection, reunites relationships and reinvigorates communities. First humanity with God, and then humanity in community. The coming of Jesus ushers in a new era for humanity, referred to as "the kingdom of God."

Jesus uses this term over 80 times in the four books of the Bible that tell us about His time here on earth. Jesus defines His purpose this way: "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose" (see Luke 4:18; Mark 1:14-15). The kingdom of God is the start of a process of renewal and restoration in creation back to the way it was originally intended. And this new era is marked by the liberation of the needy and oppressed (see Luke 4:43).

The kingdom of God will only be fully implemented at the point Jesus returns, but we should see evidence of that renewal and restoration in our communities today. Despite our selfish inclinations, God decides that we get to actively participate in His plan of establishing His kingdom. This piece of the narrative can change the world we live in.

The role of Christians is to introduce the kingdom of God to the communities they operate in through their vocations. Whether it's with people, creatures, or the environment, Christians should be bringing love, hope, justice, compassion, inclusion, healing, peace, etc., (in other words, the impact of the kingdom of God) into all corners of the world, one step at a time.

"Beloved Community"

We live in a culture that says we, as individuals, have the right to think and do whatever we choose. Accountability and responsibility to community seem like requirements, not benefits. For many people, social media has created a fractured and lonely world. Individualized media makes for exclusive communities and narrow-minded factions. If there was ever a time when the kingdom of God is needed, it is today.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to something he called, "The Beloved Community." According to the King Center, "The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal to be confused with the rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom, in which lions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony. Rather, The Beloved Community was for him a realistic, achievable goal that could be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence.

"Dr. King's Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In the Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict."

King's concept of Beloved Community is a reflection of the kingdom of God. Sadly, today it seems that faith has either become an exclusive community or a personalized belief system. Christianity is meant to be a faith that drives Christians to engage in all of our communities, not just our own churches. And Christians are meant to be agents of God's love, peace, justice, healing, compassion, hope, and peace in all those communities.

Written by the THRED team

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Explaining Evil Isn't Simple

"The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate," the first man, Adam, tells God in the third chapter of the Old Testament book of Genesis.

Possibly that's got to be one of the most creative excuses for the beginning of evil in the world since, well, the beginning of time.

Be that as it may, the Genesis story -- with its serpent, forbidden fruit, and lovely garden -- is one of the first stories we have that attempts to explain a question that has bothered humans for (as far as we can tell) almost as long as there have been humans around: why do bad things happen to good people? When you start to think about it, why do bad things happen at all?

Why do little kids come down with terrible illnesses? Who invented slavery as a way of oppressing people who look different than they do? Why are we so good at destroying things and people, and so poor at making them whole and healthy?

These questions bugged the women and men of the ancient world, too. Floods, plagues, locust invasions, wars waged by foreign armies -- they prompted a lot of theological reflection on the part of some of the top minds in the ancient world. There were entire schools of philosophy designed to answer these questions.

As time went by, Bible experts in the medieval and renaissance periods began to disagree about the meaning of the passage in Genesis: was it bad that Adam and Eve ate the apple because that's what brought evil into the world? Or did eating the fruit help humans learn the difference between what was good and what wasn't, so that they learned more about the world and about themselves?

But we don't live in the abstract world of theologians and philosophers. We suffer when someone we love is hurt, a friend betrays our trust, or we learn about some catastrophe on the other side of the world, and we can't help but ask: why?

I don't know about you, but when I hear someone tell a person who is grieving that it's all part of some bigger divine plan that we just don't understand, it makes me mad. How can a child starving in the Sudan or dying from a bombing in Syria be part of a divine plan?

You may disagree.

But let me suggest that the way we interpret the bad as well as the good times in our lives tell us something about the way that we see God.

What do you think? Is God in charge of everything that happens, or does God allow it? Is there a difference between the bad choices we make (because we choose to make them) and the bad things that occur in our lives?

How do you define evil? Absence of goodness? A force out there? Could it be ... Satan?

Written by Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans

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