Community

So I'm taking a class this semester where we are studying mission theology. I've never really been a big fan of the word theology, just because well to be honest it scares me. I know I have some theology, and that really it's just thoughts on God, but for me it's a lot bigger and different than that. Anyways, that's not the point of this blog. In this class for most of the semester, I sit in the room and pray that I can mentally stay in the classroom for an hour and a half. It's hard because half of the time I have NO idea what we are talking about. It's been a real struggle for me and I know that my grades show it. I have had no motivation for the class, and on most days dreaded going. Then on Monday I got to experience one of the coolest things I have been apart of since my HPU experience began. We started off the class with some lecture and then she handed out an exam. When everybody was done we went upstairs and got into groups. She then had us discuss with each other our answers and come up with a group version of what we thought the answers were. We then had to take the grade that the group came up with. Afterwards, we took the Lord's supper, with a sort of spin on it. We all got to pick from a list of different types of problems that we would have in our lives. Then we encouraged each other to rely on God to help us through these problems, and then invited each other to take the lord's supper. After we had taken the bread, we shared stuff that was going on in our real lives, and got encouragement from the group, before taking the wine (grape juice).

This concept blew my mind. Every time I have ever been apart of a Lord's supper service, we have always been asked to examine ourselves before we took part in it, but this was a totally different concept. Instead of just examining ourselves, we were able to get real with the people around us, and then receive encouragement for the situation. I think in our churches today we almost totally throw out community. We are more concerned with what we do as an individual, and not what is happening in the lives of our brothers and sisters. I think when we are asked to examine ourselves and share with the others around us, we are forced to deal with the issue, and then also we see that those around us truly care for us and want to encourage us in our struggle. It felt like as we took the Lord's supper, I was more free of the struggle than before because my community around me was helping my lay it before Christ.

Father,
I pray that we would not forget about those around us. I believe that you have placed these people in our lives for a reason, and so many times we forget about that. God, help us to take the focus off ourselves, and remember the needs of the people around us. I pray that you would open the eyes of the church and allow us to see the impact that the community of believers can/should/will have. Allow us to move from seeing ourselves as individuals but as one body whose purpose is to glorify you.