Even More On Christian Community

So far, in this discussion, I have written of the absolute necessity of reconciliation. I feel very passionately about reconciliation, about deepening relationships rather than keeping them safe and easy, and about showing the world that we are followers of Jesus through our love for one another.

I am not always an easy person to get along with. If you know me at all, I don’t need to tell you all the reasons why. I go into relationships unafraid to offend. I try though, to be even more ready to apologize, forgive, and grow deeper in relationship.

A few years ago, I was driving in my car, and something hit my windshield. I now had a little chip in my windshield. I could have done the responsible thing by getting it fixed when it happened, but I am not exactly the model car owner. I did what was easy to do: I ignored the chip. The integrity of my windshield was compromised, but I chose to ignore it, because “it wasn’t that big of a deal.” Soon enough, the chip grew into a crack, but it was still easy to ignore it. I didn’t want to pay to fix my windshield. As time passed, the crack grew, and grew. By the time I was driving back from northern Arizona a couple of years ago, the crack extended across the windshield, and was so visible, I was pulled over because of it. It turns out, the state doesn’t like it when you have a cracked windshield. Something about safety...

I think you are smart enough to know where I’m going with this. When we don’t deal with our anger and hurt, resentment grows like cracks, compromising the integrity of the relationship. If we let this happen, our relationships can easily be broken.

I think it is very important for community to allow conflict to occur. When we avoid it, we choose the easy route. When we allow it, in healthy amounts, we strengthen our relationships, go deeper, and avoid the kind of catastrophic conflict which can truly endanger community. In short, we cannot afford to maintain the illusion of community at the expense of real community.