Community

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

I have never seen a dirty car on a used-car lot. We all know, of course, that shiny cars eventually collect dust and dirt.. Yet American marketing wisdom insists that every car for sale, no matter how old and battered, be presented at its shiny best. Lift the hood and you’ll probably find that even the engine has been scrubbed clean of grease and dirt.

Realism kicks in only after you buy the car and begin to drive it. A few weeks later, the door to the glove compartment sticks, the valves rattle during acceleration, and a cloud of blue smoke puffs out the tailpipe. Somehow the car dealer found a way to mask those symptoms until you signed the contract.

It occurs to me that the church reverses this tried-and-true marketing wisdom. In certain ways, unwittingly or otherwise, we present our very worst image to the outside world, and then ask insiders to swallow a heavy dose of unreality … .

I have talked with many Christians, and heard from many more, who tell that the church presents a glowingly unrealistic picture of life with God. From sermons, Christian education, youth ministries, children’s ministries, choirs and praise choruses – but not from the Bible – they are led to expect a steady spiritual ascent that includes diminished temptation, a fulfilling prayer life and an increasing sense of God’s presence. The truth is, that our life with God often turns out to involve far more struggle and uncertainness than is projected in our church life. …

I do not find this pattern in the New Testament of white washing the Gospel. It is clear that because of these struggles Jesus prays for unity “so that the world may believe.”

The time is long overdue for Christians to think in terms of “We” rather than “I.” The biblical focus is on the community. God’’s answer to the human plight was to create a new community, to start a family. Individuals gain their identity by belonging to the community of faith, and the community of faith finds fulfillment in the individual.

Pastor Keys