The psalmist experience of community was so good that he often got poetic about it.

In fact, nobody in the Psalms said things like, “Don’t let anyone tell you, you are not enough.”

Photo by NATHAN MULLET on Unsplash

Think Psalm 122; the writer is not doing his Jerusalem trip thing alone, he’s being spoken to by others, in community—”I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord (v1)”—there are people in his life, fellow worshippers, fellow saved tribes of Israel from Issachar to Judah; they are constantly reminding and pointing him to pilgrimage, Jerusalem, the city where God dwells. (Ps 122:2)

They want him to remember the things of redemption, perhaps the events of Exodus, as we see in other Psalms (78, 105); they want him to meditate on God’s mercy represented in the mercy seat, or some aspect of the Tabernacle that points to Yahweh, to the nature and character of the God of Israel.

Worship in our day seems to be a whole different game. We tend to come to God on our terms; we are in the steering wheel even when we choose where we will worship.

It’s not a bad thing to find a convenient church—everyone does, but is that our only criterion in finding (and remaining in) one? Do you have one to start with? Or does your church even love the idea of “community” more than God?

Media and advertising have their benefits, but in our day, there are lots of “brand” churches that seem more interested in what they are doing “up there” than your Christ-likeness.

They may have 16 programs running, but no one has ever asked your name. You may even relocate without anyone ever sensing you disappeared. Neither may these spiritual communities ever challenge you to have the same criteria in doing that kind of life above, with and for others.

How did the “God-centered community” of Psalm 122 influence how you joined your current church? Did you ever ponder godly counsel about what a healthy church should be, or did it come down to personal preference?

And now that you joined, how are you involved in the life of the congregation?

Are you still doing your thing, (only now amidst others?) Arrive with your notebook and Bible, say a few hellos, and write down your tips to “carry you through another week,” and disappear?

Church was never designed as a spiritual supermarket where we come to consume and write down takeaways; it’s a formative local representation of heaven where we help each other constantly point to eternal realities. Some do it with a guitar, a midweek visit, or an undistracted conversation, but all do it anyway.

It’s possible to go on, Sunday after Sunday, without ever letting anyone ‘poke their nose into your business’ for God’s glory. We are okay with regular Bible reading, the same Bible that was first written to ‘gathered’ believers, but are suspicious about committed membership to a local congregation, where we will be known, loved, rebuked, and encouraged for the glory of God and our good.

Meaningfully belonging to a local body of believers prevents me from being a spiritual loiterer. (My West African friends call it ‘spiritual vagabond.’)

God-centered communities heal me from my default self-centeredness and narcissism, which often want to make ‘me’ the spiritual center of God’s world.

Sure, there is a place for private self-examination and Christian growth, but discipleship and spiritual growth are not about monologue; they begin, continue, and are nurtured in community.

Today, there are lots of voices all week, in our pockets, on YouTube, in podcasts, and in mushrooming fellowships, that all vie for our attention (and sometimes money), yet few in there will often dare look out for you or sit down in your house to talk about the continual state of your heart before God, in response to job loss, heartbreak, or purity, for example.

They are into you having “a better life/day,” but the encouragement to forget yourself and serve others is absent; the only “ministry” they are often interested in is probably the one on their end of the platform, not the kind that introduces a group of “flesh and blood” believers into your life, a community constantly pointing you to and reminding you of eternal realities.

Eternal messianic realities that far transcend your significant, yet small life, on this side of the Equator, in light of God, who saves to transform us, amidst others.

Jesus died so that all self-sufficient and lone-ranger sinners could find a home with God and others. So let’s talk.

Where have you been going? Who are you getting to know? How well are you known there, or even better, how are you knowing God better as a result of going?