Thoughts on authentic community...

Over the years, I have found myself questioning, "what is community" and "where is community"?  The kind of community where people are real and authentic with each other, feeling free to talk about what is really going on in their lives and share themselves openly with others.

For the past seven years, my husband and I have been seeking to know God more personally and follow after His heart.  We have desired to experience what the early Christians experienced together as it is described in the Bible and we have been seeking after what Jesus meant when He instructed and taught his disciples about life together and how to live that out ourselves.  We have been in many 'communities' in the last seven years - Youth With A Mission in particular, a few churches and now Elisha Care. But in all the 'communities' that we've been involved in, rarely did we experience that kind of authentic relationship which underpins the very nature of authentic communities.  Without authentic relationships there can be no authentic community life together.

Having 'joined' several Christan 'communities' in the past and having tried to 'join' a church or two here in Melbourne, I have come to the conclusion that an authentic community is not something that one can 'join.'  Rather, it is something that grows - something that God grows in you as you grow with Him.  At least that is what He has been doing with me. 

My community is not something that I now define with a ministry name or one particular group of people, and it's not made up of only Christians.  It is defined by the authentic relationships that have slowly grown between myself and others over the past three years.  It required me to put myself aside and learn to understand others despite our differences; to pursue and persist in the relationship even though I had to initiate contact every time; and to dare to trust that person with who I really am, allowing them the freedom to do the same. 

Everyone is hungry for real community - a place where they feel loved; a place where they feel safe with others.  But few are willing to give of themselves and be that community - that safe place - for others. 

The opportunities to give of myself to others that the banner of Elisha Care allows are something that I thoroughly enjoy.  It's part of my everyday life - not something that I compartmentalise and label as 'ministry'.  It's not always easy or comfortable, but I learn so much from the experience.