I'm a big fan of Leonard Sweet. In Jesus Drives Me Crazy, he writes:
Basically the church has only two things to offer the world: Christ and community. Yet we have heard the word community so often that the word itself can become a blockage to its true meaning. That's why I prefer words such as connectedness and relationships to community.
Only in relationship do we discover God. Only in relationship do we discover what it means to be human. Only in relationship do we discover anything.....We know from new physics that nothing exists independent of relationships.
Wesley instructed his preachers to "Offer them Christ." They did through the community of societies. These societies provided people with a place to connect and place to build relationships. As a result "scriptural holiness" was spread across the land.
We need to learn from these saints of God. Though I have found that in midsized churches like the one I serve it is a hard thing to do. In small churches there is a natural connectedness. Usually family ties and lifelong friendships bind people together. In large churches, people understand that they can't possibly connect with all the others in the congregation, so they seek out small groups for community. But midsized churches don't have the same kind of dynamics. There are many who feel they should know everyone in the church like in a small congregation. But at the same time like a large church there are too many people to get to know on a level beyond acquaintance.
This issue of how community is built is perhaps the greatest danger to the health of midsized congregations. I wish I had an answer. I can offer people Christ, but building community is beyond my ability. It will only happen as individuals decide they want to invest the time and energy in making it happen.
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