The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community (even if their intentions are ever so earnest), but the person who loves those around them will create community. --Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Hat tip April)
I was cruising around the Ordinary Attempts blog over at Off the Map and ran across this quote, which literally made me gasp aloud. It is a piece of Truth that really resonates with me, for a couple of reasons.
First, I think it gets at the heart of one of the problems in church culture today. Many churches are well intentioned in fostering and trying to build community within and between their members, but I can't help thinking those efforts are often misdirected, even backwards - and Bonhoeffer's words get at why.
Second, it challenges me in my own quest to taste the community and life of living-together in the Kingdom. I, too, become misdirected, focusing more on finding community or looking for ways to build, start or foster this than the people around me. But living in community is not an end; it is a by-product of a life lived in and with Jesus. That's not to say that structure and methods towards building community are wrong - they just aren't the solution or focus. Jesus is. And when we walk with Jesus we love those around us. Like Paul says in Galations: "the only thing that counts is faith working through love" (6).
Now, I must get back to caring for my daughter who has a stomach virus. And it's her birthday. Oiy.
