Committed Community
Way back in the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 1, God creates the heavens and the earth.
God creates light, and he sees that it’s good.
God creates dry land and calls the water seas, and he sees that it’s good.
God creates vegetation, and he sees that it’s good.
God creates the sun, moon, and stars, and he sees that it’s good.
God creates animals, and he sees that it’s good.
God creates man, and he looks over all that he created, and he sees that it’s very good.
But then in Genesis chapter 2, God looks at Adam and says, “Something’s not right. This isn’t good. It’s not good for man to be alone.” So, he creates a woman out of Adam’s rib to be a helper and companion for Adam. From the beginning of time, God created human beings for community. He created us for togetherness. He created us to belong.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, we see how God has gathered together a church in community. I imagine the people in the church of Thessalonica came from all kinds of walks of life. Just like the church today, I imagine there were doctors, lawyers, stay-at-home moms, farmers, skilled tradesmen, business owners, teachers, architects, old and young, rich and poor, and everything in between. But the one thing that united them in community – in togetherness – was Jesus Christ.
The church in Thessalonica had a sincere commitment to one another.
What I find to be increasingly true is that many of us want community. We have this innate desire to belong. We long to have friends who accept us and love to be with us. And the key to having deep relationships with other people is sincere commitment.
But here in America, gamophobia – the fear of commitment in relationships – seems to be on the rise, and there are different reasons for this.
Genetics – something in your DNA
Family history – the way you were raised
The fear of being abandoned
You might fear commitment because you fear being hurt by the other person.
Or it could be that you were hurt in a relationship before, and you don’t want to go through that kind of pain again.
So, maybe for a lot of us, we’re afraid to get too attached or too involved in other people’s lives. So, we’re caught up in this dichotomy of wanting to have community with other people, but we don’t want to get too close.
Perhaps this is why a lot of people feel so lonely today. They’ve tried to make connections with other people without making commitments. It’s easier to friend someone on Facebook or follow someone on Instagram than to delve into a deep, personal relationship with someone. It’s okay for a little while, but simply making connections just doesn’t work. The depth of community you experience in life is directly connected to the depth of your commitment to others around you. You can’t have deep community without sincere commitment.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, we see this sincere commitment to relationship. Paul writes in verse 17…
17 But as for us, brothers and sisters, after we were forced to leave you for a short time…
Stop there for a moment. In Acts chapter 17, we read how Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica and planted a church there. But after about three or four weeks, their time with the Thessalonian church got cut short because the Jewish people were threatening their lives. So, to protect Paul and Silas, the church sent them away to another city. That’s what Paul is talking about here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. He says…
17 …after we were forced to leave you for a short time…we greatly desired and made every effort to return and see you face to face.
So, Paul is expressing his strong desire to reconnect with them. He wants them to know he loves them and he’s committed to them. This is one feature of the church that makes my heart happy – to see individuals in the church committed to one another in relationship.
So, here’s a formula to remember:
CONNECTION + COMMITMENT = COMMUNITY
Most of us, if not all of us, want to have connection with others. It’s why we friend and follow people on social media. It’s why we go to sporting events and join civic organizations. It may be why some of us are here today. We have this desire to connect with other people. But it takes sincere commitment to those connections to build deep community. And here in the church, we can’t approach deep community with a social media mentality. It’s not going to work. It’s not going to happen with a press-the-like-button frame of mind. It’s connection plus commitment that builds a deep community.
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Sources:
“Gamophobia (Fear of Commitment),” Cleveland Clinic, accessed 9/24/24, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22570-gamophobia-fear-of-commitment
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.