the JOY of community living

This is my last entry on community for a while (see previous three entries if you want this to make sense:)

I have talked about the hard parts, because if you aren't willing for those, then this joy i am describing will not and cannot come to you. It can only be yours once you have dealt with the reality aspect of life together.

Once you've seen others and yourself for who they/you really are, and once you have decided to persevere through it, you will come to such a holy place in your walk with the Lord, such a milestone. It will fill you with joy and answer so many of your questions. The things that had bothered you so much before seem insignificant now. You have seen and tasted the GRACE of God in such an amazing way that you feel as though you could never judge another person in your life! That isn't to say you will never get upset or argue again, but you will see it all in the right perspective, so that you are easily able to overcome it. You don't hold grudges. You are patient and have hope for ANYONE. To me, that is something to rejoice over!

Here is an example from my own life: i had an elderly neighbor whose son was on the "board" of our community in a leadership position. Even though he wasn't really that involved at the prayer meetings and other important events, he was the one we called when something needed fixed, so he was actually still a very important member. We ate at his house, we loved his wife and children, etc. Something was never quite right, though. Eventually, it all came out into the light. He committed adultery and left his wife for another woman. There was some confusion about whether to "love him" through his mistakes or to "cut him off" from the body so that others would not follow in his evil steps. Since there was this confusion and no one else seemed willing to speak up, i chose to be that one. I wrote a letter and had those who agreed sign it. I asked our other leaders to have this man removed from the board. Of course, if he'd repented of his sin and wanted to come back to his wife, this wouldn't have been a necessary step. But he was not willing to repent. He justified his actions and wanted to marry this other woman. He actually went on to go to another church where they weren't aware of his personal life...

Anyway, when his mother, my neighbor, found out what i had done, she was very angry with me. She yelled at me, "You call yourself a Christian!?" and "That's not love!" It was a hard time for all of us, and i searched my heart before the Lord because i knew what i'd done was not a small thing. It weighed heavy on me, but i felt the Lord assure me that this was the right step to take (even though i should not have been the one to do it, but no one else would...). I kept silent and let people accuse me. It was God alone that i sought to please, not man. I prayed that she would come to love me again, even if she could never agree to what i did. I kept on loving her. I am so glad to say that she did come to love me again, although she never could seem to stop blaming other people for her son's sin. Our relationship was more real after that event than ever before. It was like she had expected me to hate her, but when she discovered i didn't, she stopped hating me. She'd expected me to speak evil of her son, but when i never did, she began to question how she'd reacted.

I know, this was supposed to be all about the joy and i show you another problem. Well, the two go hand-in-hand a lot of times. But we did have times where there was joy without problems, too. We often played games together like brothers and sisters, we stayed up late talking under the stars, we shared our food and possesions, we laughed A LOT. We were the most real thing i have experienced in terms of being a "family of God." There is also a lot of joy that comes from the fact that you have a common life and common goals for your spiritual life.

The good church experiences i've had have been fine, but they haven't been extraordinary. Not that it's all about experience, because it's not! But i want to ask, is there something better? Does the Lord Himself want more for us as a church body? Let's go back to the book of Acts and see if we cannot create, by His Spirit and not by our own cunning, something more like what we read about there where "the believers had everything in common" and "met together daily" and "broke bread together in each others' homes." I know many people think that was then and this is now. But i believe that God considers our prayers, and if we are praying to live in a similar way than the early believers lived, He will guide us. How can we love each other if we do not really know each other? How can we really help each other if we don't pray together regularly? If we are being honest, maybe we do not want to be that close because it would require too much from us...and i can relate to that for sure! But that won't stop me from desiring what is best for the church and praying to that end. Please pray and desire that with me.:)