Notes

COMMUNITY

from Global Dictionary of Theology

God's project in the world can be described as shaping a community, a people whose identity is centered in God, as illustrated in Israel (OT) and the church (NT). The Judeo-Christian faith is marked by this stress on community, in contrast to other religions such as *Hinduism and *Buddhism, which are primarily individually oriented.

The Roots of Biblical Community
The ultimate root of community, Christians believe, is the *Trinity. Certainly, humans were created for community, as even world cultures illustrate. Africans, for example, are a communitarian people: “It takes a village to raise a child.” A leader of churches in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, noting the Pacific way of interdependence, observed, “God prepared the peoples of Melanesia to hear the Gospel by making them communityminded people.”

God's objective in shaping a people is captured in the covenant formula, “I … will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Lev 26:12), which occurs with variations some twenty-five times (e.g., Jer 31:33). Furthermore, that formula serves as a bracketing device in the whole of Scripture (Gen 17:7; Rev 21:3).

In the OT God's purpose for forming a covenant community was intimated to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 17:7). However, its formal establishment came at Sinai following the miracle of the exodus. In the NT, Jesus gave priority to a community of disciples and announced the building of a church (Mt 16:18). However, its actual establishment came at Pentecost, where, as in the OT, it followed a miracle, namely Christ's resurrection (cf. Peterson who grounds community in Deuteronomy and in Luke-Acts). Paul's letters are almost exclusively addressed to churches, thereby emphasizing the importance of community (e.g., Romans; cf. Rev 2—3).

The Christian community is Christocentric, empowered by God's grace and gifted by the Spirit. Community involves interdependence, mutual support and caring, and belonging. Movements toward intentional communities existed already in Israel (e.g., the bands of the prophets, 1 Sam 10:10; 19:20). In church history also, certain movements emerged, such as the monastic orders or, more recently, the Latin American Base Ecclesial Communities, partly as a response to a perceived lack of authentic community in the larger church. Even today a person wanting to enter the Benedictine order is asked, “What do you seek?” The expected answer is “The mercy of God and fellowship in this community.” In Protestantism such attempts at authentic community include the Hutterian Brethren, house churches, small (cell) groups and experiments in community about which the theologian D. Bonhoeffer wrote: “We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ” (Bonhoeffer, 31).

The Goals of Community
Luke characterized the Christian community following Pentecost as believers sharing assets communally, worshiping and fellowshipping (Acts 2:44-47). But it was not a closed group since persons were added to it daily (Acts 2:47). The faith community envisioned by the Bible is not so much an institution as it is a dynamic body (1 Cor 12:4-31). Its purposes are directed both inward and outward.

2.1. Worship God. The elaborate instructions to the Israelites to build the tabernacle (Ex 25—31; 35—40) indicate the large place that worship was to have within the faith community. Rituals both shape and sustain communities. For Israel such community rituals meant three annual week-long festivities to commemorate God's deliverance and sustaining action. Two of the three festivals recalled God's deliverance (Passover and Feast of Booths). All three incorporated thanksgiving for harvests: Passover (barley harvest); Feast of Weeks (wheat harvest), and Feast of Booths (grape harvest; Deut 16:1-17). Times of sacrifice, especially the peace offering, were group events. The Psalms include community thanksgivings (Ps 124), community hymns (Ps 100) and community laments (Ps 44; cf. Lamentations).

The New Testament community observes the Lord's Supper (also called communion or the Eucharist) and baptism. The custom of Christians around the world is to observe one day (usually Sunday) as a day of worship.

2.2. Discern God's Way in Scripture. A faith community, as understood in the Judaic Christian sense, is united in its focus on Scripture as a written text. Though in some ways derived from community, the written text is also interpreted by the community. Just as in the Old Testament the community was the ultimate judge of whether a prophet was false or true, so in current Christian communities it is not some expert exegete but the larger body that essentially and effectively rules on an interpretation of Biblical texts.

The ways of God are expounded in the Pentateuch (e.g., Deuteronomy). Prophets also, such as Habakkuk, answer the questions of God's way with nations and the importance of faith (Hab 2:4). Repeatedly the Bible insists that what God desires from a community is the practice of justice (e.g., Deut 16:20; Is 5:1-7). The Ten Commandments in the OT (Ex 20), the beatitudes in the Gospels (e.g., Mt 5:3-12) and the lists of ethical directives in the epistles (e.g., Rom 12:9-21) all become descriptors of living according to the ways of God.

2.3. Edify and Care for Members. Members of a Christian community are to be nurtured in their life with God so that they may become mature (Eph 4:11-13; Col 1:28). In the Israelite community priests had the responsibility of teaching (Mal 2:4-7). The prophets monitored the spiritual health of the community by identifying the shape of evil within the community: idolatry (Jer 2:26-28), dishonesty (Jer 9:3-6), extortion (Amos 8:4-6), covenant breaking (Ezek 17:18), and injustices generally. In letters to the churches Paul lists a variety of gifts given to persons in order to nurture community members (Eph 4:11-13), who are challenged to “welcome one another” (Rom 15:7), “love one another” (Rom 12:10), “serve one another in love” (Gal 5:13 NIV), and “encourage one another and build up each other” (1 Thess 5:11). The interdependence and sense of intimacy is achieved through both listening and disclosure, and through other “disciplines” (Gish, 34-132). The phrase “one another” is central in the NT.

2.4. Serve as a Model of God's Kingdom. Community-building is not an end in itself; the community is to be a light to the nations such that nations will be drawn to it (Is 42:6; 60:3). Jesus said that his community is to be like a city set on the hill (Mt 5:14). The ideal community, characterized by a God-centeredness and suffused with love and concerned for justice (right relationships), is clearly an alternative within the larger society.

2.5. Be an Agency of Proclamation. The Christian community lives out of the resurrection, empowered by the Spirit. Formed at Pentecost and continuing for more than two millennia, the Christian community has remembered the farewell words of Jesus its founder: “You will receive power … you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The OT community of Israel was called to be a blessing (Gen 12:3) and to be intentional about bringing about justice—that is, “right relationships” (Is 42:4; Jonah).

Entry into and Departure from Community
One does not become a member of God's family automatically but by choice. For Abraham's family that choice was sealed by the rite of circumcision. However, though Israel was initially an ethnic group, the spiritual community is not determined by ethnicity; others not of Jewish lineage had the opportunity to join God's people (e.g., Jethro, a Kenite; Ruth, a Moabitess). Proselytes, described as “God-fearers” in the New Testament, submitted to certain rites, but the critical component was the acknowledgement of the God of Israel as their God (Acts 10:22).

In Israel, failure to comply with community expectations could result in being “cut off from the people” (e.g., Lev 17:4, 9, 10; Num 9:13), a phrase that might mean death, loss of inheritance rights, loss of the privilege to worship at the cultic shrine, or temporary or permanent exclusion from the community. Jesus gave guidelines for “excommunication” (Mt 18:17; cf. Paul's directives in 1 Cor 5:2, 5). Christian communities, like other communities, establish boundaries as an indication of what belonging means.

Threats to Community Cohesiveness and Solidarity
4.1. Innate Sinfulness. Just as Adam and Eve, the nucleus of community, were estranged through sin, so sin in its great variety plays havoc with community solidarity. Selfishness, greed, lust for power, gossip, false accusations and much else, whether engaged in by members or leaders, fragment a community. Dishonesty and distrust tear at the fabric of a community.

4.2. Individualism. For a community to exist, individuals need to yield their autonomy (Peterson). The ideals of a “rugged individualism” or personal independence, though of merit, need to be tempered. Community values such as submission and caring set the desired tone.

4.3. Disunity and Leadership Issues. Among the issues that can divide a Christian community is the behavior of the leader(s). The sons of Korah who challenged Moses’ leadership and mustered a following are a prime OT example (Num 16:1-35). Similarly divisiveness in the church can be caused by polarizations around personalities (1 Cor 3:3-4). The Bible repeatedly exhorts groups and their leaders to maintain unity (1 Cor 1:10; Eph 4:1-3).

4.4. Apathy. A Christian community can become ingrown and overly isolated. Spiritual indifference will cripple a community. Failure to reach out to others with the gospel is a sign of an unhealthy community.

These threats to Christian community remind us of our constant need for the work of the Holy Spirit within us as individuals and amidst communities of believers both locally and globally. What is more, today we are discovering new challenges and resources for true community as we learn from Christian communities in other cultures new dimensions and practices for life together in Christ.