Signs of Life part 2: Inclusion

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

Last week I launched a new series of posts regarding our values at PCC. If you haven't done so already, take a moment to go back and read part 1: The Transformation.

As I said last week, our mission at PCC is to intentionally influence people to seek a genuine and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. And we've discovered that a genuine and growing follower of Christ is someone who pursues four vital signs of life. The first vital sign is living a transformed life, and really speaks to the value of spiritual transformation.

Here's the second sign of life:

It's become church cliche to say that we need community, or that we were created for relationships... but it's true. The story of our need for companionship goes all the way back to the very beginning. God made Adam, placed him in the Garden, and said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." Everything else he had done up to that point had been good. He was satisfied with how it had all come together. That is, until he saw that Adam was alone. And so he created a companion for him. 

Ecclesiastes 4:12 puts it beautifully:

By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped. (The Message)

In fact, the church itself was formed around this very principle. Acts 2:42 and 46-47 give us a glimpse of what that looked like as the first Christ followers started a new movement we now call church.

As we've looked at our strategy at Pathway, we've determined that everyone at PCC needs to be included in community. The PCC website states under this value that we want to see people intimately connected within the body through journey groups. The truth is, however, that this isn't a Pathway thing... this is a fundamental truth of human behavior, and a founding principle of the church.

The concept of authentic community, however, is key. What makes community authentic? Here are some things we've identified as essentials to authentic community. SPOILER ALERT: they happen to be the journey group values - more will be written on these in future posts.

Discovery of Truth.
Authentic community is experienced when we're included in an environment where Biblical Truth can be discovered and applied together.

Caring friendships.
Community can only be authentic when we're included in relationships with friends who love us enough to encourage us, support us, and hold us accountable.

Serving inside and outside.
We experience authentic community as we learn to meet the needs inside our group, as well as work together to address needs outside our group.

Branching out to bring more in.
Authentic community is demonstrated through our commitment to make room for others who need to experience the transformational power of authentic community.

Each of these are essential to authentic community. If we want to get down to the nitty-gritty, however, we have to realize that authentic community starts with us. For authentic community to truly be experienced, we have to be authentic people. Now we can explore what that looks like in a little more depth.

When I posed this question on Twitter and Facebook, some good friends of mine referred me to the character of Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sam is an excellent example of what an authentic person looks like. If you remember the story, Samwise became the dear friend, and loyal protector, of Frodo Baggins on their treacherous and fateful journey to destroy the Ring. Through every trial, Sam proved several qualities that I think are key to authenticity.

1. He was trustworthy. Sam's commitment to Frodo was demonstrated through his statement, "I'm on your side, Mr. Frodo." What's more, Sam's actions were consistent with this. Authenticity hinges on trust. If we want to experience authentic community, we have to be trustworthy people.
2. He provided a sense of safety. After all, Gandalf had appointed him Frodo's protector - a position he took very seriously. Authenticity will flourish when people feel safe around us... when they know we won't judge them for their faults, or share their secrets with others.
3. He was courageous. How many of us would attack a giant spider who was about to eat our friend? Sam did. For us, however, the giant spider might be a question we need to ask, a sin we need to confess, or loving truth we need to share with a friend. Authenticity requires real courage.
4. He was humble. Sam thought Frodo was making fun when he referred to Samwise the Brave. Frodo was serious, but Sam didn't think of himself in such high regard. He was just doing what he knew was the right thing to do. Authenticity happens when we're not seeking it, or expecting something in return.
5. He was loyal. Even when Frodo was deceived by Gollum and dismissed Sam from his company, he never faltered on his commitment to Frodo. Community is messy. Feelings get hurt. Relationships may get strained. Loyalty goes a long way to foster ongoing authenticity.
6. He was transparent. Samwise knew how to speak his mind. He didn't hide anything from Frodo. Transparency is our ability to let others in on the hidden things in our lives - struggles, temptations, fears, questions, and so on. If you want to see authenticity happen in your group, try starting with a little transparency.

To illustrate the concept of authentic community, we've used the visual of circles forming a circle. Again, the individual circles represent a Christ follower, while the larger circle they form represents community. There is so much symbolism in the circle when it comes to community. The members of the circle are shoulder to shoulder for protection. They are face to face for intimacy. And within the circle they are able to look inward for care, but they are also able to see beyond to the needs outside their circle. Community is something for which we were created. Authentic community is something to which we're called. That's why we've identified this as a vital sign of life.

Feel free to post your thoughts or comments as it relates to authentic community.