Spiritual Community

I was looking up passages about community, because let’s face it, it’s considered a vital part of what the church is. Yet it seems to be a place where the current church often struggles these days. Hence the desire to seek wisdom in correcting perceived problems. Certainly, there must be more to it than just throwing a bunch of people together and expecting it to emerge organically as we typically do. While that may be adequate for some personalities. Not so much for other more aloof temperaments. As of now, I have not found any passages on how to cultivate community via some forgotten systematic formula. However, there are a few models given to show us what a church community should look like. (Eph. 4, 1st Cor. 12) Within these examples, there is a shared detail that grants us some practical direction on how to actually fulfill said examples. That being the Holy Spirit. To make these models work, we must follow the Holy Spirit to escape the trappings of pride and self that plague communities. Since the current-day church does not actually resemble either of these models at all, one can only conclude we are following human nature more than the Spirit. So it’s no wonder church communities are often dysfunctional. 

Consider this, according to psychologists, the desire for community is so strong with humanity, that we will try to build a community around just about anything. Including toxic things that only encourage self-destructive behavior. For example, street gangs. Technically a community, but that in itself does not make them beneficial. This should stress why we need more than human will to guide our church communities. Therein lies our first obstacle. Most current churches only give the Holy Spirit lip service at best. Others outright denounce the Holy Spirit, saying the only relevant authority of God's will today is the Bible. There are a few problems with this questionable argument though. 

    1. The statement itself violates the very scripture they profess. (1st Thes. 5:19)
    2. While the Bible can give commands and define righteousness we often need help in application. In the time of Christ, Jesus was constantly correcting the religious authorities in the application of scripture, and questioning their sincerity and motives. Naturally, we still need something more for the specific details of living it out correctly. Christ called the Spirit the Helper (or Advocate depending on the translation) for a reason. (John 14:16 & 15:26)
    3. The Bible can tell us that we are Set Apart for a purpose. But we need the Spirit to lead us to what our specific purpose is. It’s no wonder everyone tells me “I don’t know what my purpose is.”They are asking ministers and teachers, not the Spirit.
    4. The Bible can define sin. Only the spirit can reveal what the specific root of it in you is. Or what you specifically need to address to overcome it. The oversimplified whitewash-like advice of “stop it” has only led to frustration and repeated backsliding. The spirit can also give us the strength to face our wounds and resist, so we can actually live by said definitions. (Eph. 3:16)
    5. While some argue the Holy Spirit was only relevant in the apostolic age, let me refer you back to John 14:16 where Jesus says the the spirit would be with us FOREVER. Legalists even try to put a time limit on “blasphemy of the Spirit.” Even though there is no reference to time at all in the applicable passages. (Matt. 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-30, Luke 12:8-10) Some may use this made-up excuse to rationalize their blatant blasphemy. For others, it may be more about arrogance. They assume that if miraculous things still happened today they would be the first to experience it. They would rather change the script than admit they are not nearly as Holy as they assume.

“. . . The Helper can never be packaged or programmed to fit any man-devised plan. . . “ -Catherine Marshall, The Helper

Here in lies many people's issues with the Holy Spirit, our human nature likes our systematic and predictable formulas. As well as our ability to control the narrative and outcome. If we deny the Spirit, we think He can’t get in the way of our less-than-divine plans.

Granted we will always need the Bible as a litmus test, to remind us of our ultimate goals in the Christian walk. So as not to confuse our own emotions with the Spirit. Or possibly an unclean spirit that would deceive us. In short, the Bible tells us where we need to go, but the Spirit tells us how to get there. But even the Bible will do you no good if you rely on blasphemers of the Spirit with ulterior motives to explain it to you.

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” -John 3:8