CommUNITY

So yesterday was a great day. I woke up and went to a great church in the area and really enjoyed their presentation of the gospel. I went to lunch with some of my close friends and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day with my good friend Rick. He and I are very much alike and share a common love for doing what I call "stupid guy crap" which translates into...whatever holds our attention for more than 15 minutes at a time. This included going over future plans to create an internet business and make millions, co-authoring a book about spiritual gray issues, throwing basketballs from full court, sitting in my apartment destroying leftovers from Chili's and Five Guys, grocery shopping (random, yet amusing) and playing tennis while these stinky French people cooked fish at the grill station next to us.

One thing I did notice during our time around my apartment complex was the strong sense of community not just between Rick and I, but more noticeably, amongst the people at the teenagers at the pool, the families having cook-outs, the little kids playing on the playground, and the others walking their dogs. It just felt good to watch.

It makes me think of the kind of community I want to see and produce at my church, The Connection Point. So I did some minor research and here's what I found:

The word community can be defined as a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality and often have a common cultural viewpoint or setting. I also realized that the underlying root within the word community is unity. And unity can be described as a state of being one, or an absence of diversity. I then found that word unity is used 235 times in the New Testament alone. In its hebrew form, ei|ß (pronounced "hice") the direct translation is "one."

And although it's so simple and almost redundant to be explained, I just felt as though God was confirming the simplicity of unity to be through those people yesterday. To be one, to be a fluid, active, living, breathing body...as one. Not that we have to dress the same, look the same, act the same, listen to the same music, or even believe 100% the same... but to just be one. To be one in the spirit, one in truth and one in love.