Called Together

I've been reading about faith communities and today I was impacted by the following words from 'Called Together' by Jonathon Dodson and Brad Watson.

 'What Community Is
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” —Acts 2:42-47

 What if we decided not to be a group of individuals who try to follow Jesus on our own, occasionally gathering for a church service or a bible study; rather, we committed to being a community of people devoted to Jesus and one another!'

And
 'gospel community says: “We are already accepted in Christ; therefore, we love, forgive, and accept one another.”'

As I meditated on these thoughts I was reminded afresh of the uniqueness of true Christian community. Community is commitment to one another; a willingness to love deeply and forgive freely; a willingness to accept each other as we are and encourage each other to become like Christ, with our focus on who he is and his acceptance of us.

This is possible because we are already accepted in Christ. Our motivation comes from being accepted by him and not from trying to gain the acceptance of others.

Tim Keller notes that religion says, “I obey, therefore I am accepted,” but the gospel says, “I am accepted, therefore I obey.”

Dodson and Watson pose questions for us around what it means to live in community. They are well worth considering and acting on.

 'What would it look like for us to become this kind of community? • What must change in our hearts? • What must change in our daily-lives? • What must change in how we view our lives? • Is it worth it? Why'