7 Vital Signs of Spiritual Growth – Community

Acts 2:42 – “They devoted themselves to…the breaking of bread…”  (The last of those “…”s.)

Acts 2:45 – “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,”

Community has become a big word in our culture.  It’s become an even bigger word in Christian circles.  Sometimes I think it almost too much of a buzz word to be honest.  But I could not write all the stories I could tell about community, and furthermore you wouldn’t read them.

I’ve heard it said that you can have community without a church.  This is absolutely true.  That’s why we have other organizations that you can join.  It’s why I’m a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.  We all long to be around like-minded or like-interested people.  It validates us.  There are tons of psychological benefits to communities.

However, I think we’re talking about a level deeper in community in this case.  Please indulge me more stories.

On the morning of February 14, 2003, Brandi woke me up at 4am to tell me that today was the day we were having our second baby and that we needed to head for the hospital.  That was all well and good, except I had a sleeping 3 year old in the house to tend to as well.  One phone call to Brad and Lacey Martindale and Lacey was at our house in less than 5 minutes.  Folks, that’s a good friend right there.  And yes, you can have that type of community outside of a church.

In December of 2011, the lives of our friends Zane and Tiffany Petty changed dramatically and forever.  They had been fostering a young baby boy for a very long time and were looking forward to adopting him.  At the absolute last minute, his parents’ rights were restored and they had to return him to them.  I’m not an overly emotional guy.  And neither are most of my friends.  However, I can tell you that I shed tears on the phone with Zane the day he left their home.  I can tell you that I was on my face screaming at God, asking him why he would put them through this horrible experience.  And I wasn’t alone.  The community in our church around the Petty’s wrapped them up and helped them through this time.  It was heart-wrenching.  Let me tell you right now, your neighbor down the street or your motorcycle club buddy isn’t that invested in your life.  But if you can find a strong community of Christians inside of a church, that is where you’ll be carried, and also carry others through these tough times.  Fast forwarding to recent days, the Pettys have adopted a beautiful girl.  God’s grace is in His own time.

Who can you call on in your darkest hour?  Yes, God, first and foremost.  And then, who is next?  Perhaps a better question is who can call on you?  If you aren’t sure about the answers to these questions, then start proactively looking and praying for that community to plug into.