Practice

My Person and another dear friend and I have gotten into the practice of "Practicing Community". Those of you in evangelical circles have heard this language, no doubt, and would have an idea of what I mean.

This started when one evening we were playing Dutch Blitz and the topic of "authentic community" came up. We defined it --- honesty, accountability, the idea of "if you have anything against your brother leave your offering"; essentially the idea of doing life together as the Body of Christ in the way that the Bible seems to indicate God has created us to do, for our own good and for Kingdom good. And after the defining process, we pondered how on earth one would go about it. Not that we didn't recognize the benefits. But considering the church does NOT currently operate like that, it would essentially need to be grandfathered in. And does that ever work? This isn't a program, after all. This is changing the way we relate to people, which perhaps might be simple enough in theory, except that it would also involve changing the way THEY relate to US.

But despite our bafflement, that night we embarked on the project of "Practicing Community" with one another. And when I say "practice", I mean it in the sense that we were PRACTICING like an athelete or a musician practices. Trying it out. Giving ourselves permission to suck and get better.

I will share more on this in the future, but for now I will just say that I am truly blessed to be a part of this project. I have learned so much about myself (and about how I am not unique or alone in my struggles... what a relief!) and about the freedom that comes from not having to second guess myself, because I am in community with people who have pledged to be honest with me about how they are feeling. If I feel like I have offended one of them, it is my responsibility to immediately make that right. If I have been offended, the same thing. If I am struggling, it is my responsibility to not struggle alone, but to seek accountability and help. And it is their responsibility to do that to the best of their ability, so I don't have to feel guilty about imposing, or feel alone. If I am lying to myself, they are there to tell me, not coddle me. But still to love me. Gracious.

Not that we've got it all figured out. PRACTICE. It's okay to get it wrong when you have pledged to be honest and forgive mistakes. For me, my current area of practice is learning to speak the TRUTH in love boldly (which I have little trouble with with my Community) while being careful to distinguish that from speaking my OPINION in love, which should not be done so boldly. And, of course, learning how speaking the TRUTH to my Community must be altered to speak truth in love to other brothers and sisters in Christ. Because my Community knows me and is learning to understand my personality, to recognize that if I speak forcefully it reflects that I love and care forcefully. So how DOES that translate into people that don't know me as intimately?

Anyway, I don't know why I'm so amazed to be so fulfilled by something God intended all along, that he wrote down 2000 years ago. But I am. Amazed and fulfilled and blessed beyond measure.

What about you? Have you seen this or experienced this?