Foundations
By Frank Rose
There are communities that come from family clusters. There are communities of people interested in similar things – like the education community. Some communities arise just because people live near each other, but these days many of us do not really know our neighbors and even if we know them, we don’t have much to do with them. With people moving so frequently for the sake of work and survival, many are disconnected and lonely. But it is not good that people should be alone. We all need the support of a community, especially a community of people who are also focused on their spiritual journey. This is one of the main reasons why churches exist, although it is possible to be in a church congregation and not really know the other people. This is why church congregations need to place a high priority on building community.
The core purpose of helping people to experience heavenly joy is achieved through people coming to know, love, and support each other. This is more likely to happen in small groups than in the worship event. This is why we have smaller classes, support groups, spiritual growth groups and the like. In these groups acceptance is very important. We all have our individual challenges and problems and one of the things we look for is loving support. We tend not to do well when surrounded by people who judge and criticize us. This is why accepting people into the spiritual community is such an important feature of church congregations. It takes work to make people feel welcome and give them a sense of belonging. Every person who walks into a church is a child of God with spiritual gifts and spiritual needs, looking for a spiritual home.
The church is open to everyone, though of course not everyone who enters the door will want to return. The point is that it is not our job to judge other people. We leave that to God. People who do not belong will separate themselves. We do not need to filter them out. Jesus told us not to judge others. Of course in the case of blatant disorder we need to make judgments, but even then we have to admit that we do not see the inner states of other people. In the long run we are all one family, the family of God. And we are all on a spiritual journey needing acceptance, love and support.