“The secular culture of ancient Corinth, the prosperous, ethnically diverse, and worldly city in which the early church grew, sounded not too dissimilar from our Western culture today. In a way, it’s a bit sad that humanity hasn’t changed. Humanity has a way of repeating itself as the depravity of our species was sown into our DNA. But, this gives us key insight into God’s relationship with humanity and our on-going need for Jesus, important today as it was two millennia ago.
Jesus’ Church is counter-cultural by design. Men and women eating together and in fellowship, being treated with mutual respect. People of different social economic backgrounds and ethnicities gathering together and seeing one another as equals and united in their faith in Jesus. It’s a beautiful glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
And yet, the Church comprised of every day people, are susceptible to the influences of secular culture as much today as it was two thousand years ago. Paul directly addressed this in 1 Corinthians 3: 3-4, NIV:
“You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?”
It takes effort to be in community with people who you wouldn’t normally develop friendships with for various reasons of backgrounds, life experiences, perspectives on the world. But the Christian Community is diverse with one unifying trait: faith in Jesus.
One of the quiet dangers that can emerge in a thriving community is when someone carries an idealized or utopian vision of what they wish the community would be—and begins to project that dream onto the group. While longing for deep connection is natural, real Christian community is never perfect. It’s not a curated circle of like-minded friends. Rather, it’s often made up of people we wouldn’t naturally choose to be around. And that’s part of its transforming power.
Authentic Christian community welcomes real people—with real lives and real challenges. And for community to be real, it must also be safe. Safe enough to be vulnerable. Vulnerability opens us up—not just to healing, but also to the risk of being hurt. That’s the risk we take when we live in genuine connection with others. But it’s also where the deepest spiritual growth happens.
Paul offers a clear invitation to the early church that still rings true for us today: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2). In this context, the word bearing stands out. It means more than just tolerating—it implies endurance, compassion, and the active choice to walk with one another through life’s highs and lows.
Let’s not chase a perfect picture of community. Let’s instead create the kind of imperfect, grace-filled spaces where the Holy Spirit forms us, together—bearing with one another in love.
John Mark Comer talks about his experience in Christian Community as a six stage cycle:
There’s a point in which people are faced with the decision to leave out of frustration or fear of the community not living up to that person’s ideal, or to accept and engage, in spite of their frustrations and fears, and out of this commitment to stay, open the real potential of a long-term interpersonal relationships from which to grow together.
So it’s these two axes to keep in mind when forming a Christian Community: Vulnerability and Commitment. When a community’s Vulnerability is deep and Commitment long-term the true transformational growth that forms us spiritually can occur.
Key Takeaway:
Throughout this Practice of Community I’ve been asking the very fundamental question of, “What’s different between a Christian Community and a community that just hangs out to enjoy each other’s company?” This week’s answer represents the fourth facet of Christian Community: Stay Together to Grow. Christian Communities exhibit vulnerability and commitment to one another to deal with conflict, practice forgiveness, and never stop growing.”