Community

As I have mentioned, last week we were at Dance Nationals. My daughter, Rachel, has been dancing now for ten years, starting with ballet and eventually broadening her talents to include tap, hip-hop, lyrical, jazz and other styles of dance. She loves it. Even when she's not dancing, she's dancing. She doesn't walk through the house, she dances. It's deep in her blood.

Also deep in her is a competitive spirit. I have NO idea where she might have gotten that from! (Since I'm the one writing this, I'll say it's probably from her mother...) She likes to win. She wants to win. And, thanks to a good studio, great teachers and her determined spirit, her team does very well. Her dances have routinely placed well in the various competitions this year.

But you know what else I noticed while spending time at Nationals this past week? Dancers are, seemingly by nature, also very encouraging to one another. They cheer for each other. They hug each other. And when one person on their larger team doesn't do as well, they surround that person and lift them up. Throughout the year, as they work hard and strive together toward a goal, they become a community, united by a common purpose and a common passion.

And I couldn't help but wonder where that same spirit is in the church. I mean, it should be there, shouldn't it? We're supposed to be united around a common goal and purpose: to make disciples of all nations. We're called to encourage one another more and more each day. We're called to be on the same "team."

Yet what do we find? Many people report experiences in the church where they've been ignored, rejected, and hurt. Young people today turn away from the church in part because it seems inauthentic. Real community is lacking. Do we surround others when they are hurting, or do we leave them to suffer alone because we're uncomfortable? Do we stay in a church only as long as it makes us feel good, or do we seek to serve Jesus rather than get out of a church what we can get? Shouldn't church be more like a dance team?

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