The Spiritual Practice of Community

Community in the church might seem the least exciting of spiritual practices – it’s very ordinary and, aren’t we already practicing community? Yes, but… Anyone who has been hurt by a church community before, knows that fire seems a gift in the cold unless yo Many Christians love Jesus but find the doors of his church incredibly painful to walk through. In fact, there are likely very few Christians in church that haven’t felt some sort of sting: cliques, criticism, or crud. Why does this happen? For better and for worse: the beauty of the church is the brokenness of the church. We are a rag-tag riff-raff of imperfect people joined together by a perfect God. If the church is being the church, we should expect a bit of mess. But there is a fine line between a hospital for sinners and a huddle for sin. We will always be a community of recovering sinners, but the healthiness and potency all depends on the extent that the gospel of grace is woven into the fabric of every layer. Read on for more…