Jesus & Community

"His (Jesus') obedience to the Father's will meant that Jesus also lived in fellowship with others. He was no self-sufficient recluse, no isolated individual. Rather, life-in-human-community included both mutuality of friendships and compassionate ministry to the needy. Jesus was both the "man for others" and the one who received the gift of friendship from others. And Jesus showed that community ought to know no boundaries; it reaches from friends to the outcast and hurting, and even encompasses one's enemies."
-- Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God

What would it like to have super powers? In most of our cultural tales--Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman (they're not all men!)--the hero is a lonely outsider that retreats to the Bat Cave or the Fortress of Solitude to brood between earthshaking missions. They never get to participate fully in the world they are protecting.

Let's be honest. Their stories can be fascinating entertainment, but they're not great role models. For them, the act of saving the world through brute strength and violence makes them unfit to enjoy life, people, and the world they have saved. An entire world of Batmen would be a lonely place indeed.

Jesus offers a different picture. Instead of the brooding outsider, he is a lover of people. He may be the eternal Son of God, but he lived a fully human life. This meant that his relationships were two-way. He gave and he received. Although, he is our Creator, he did not live his life among us as the unmoved dispenser of gifts. His friendships were truly mutual. He made sure he had solitary time to pray and to study and to think, but his life was relational. He got to know and cared for the people around him.

Jesus was no outsider, but people chose to be outsiders by pushing him away. Unfortunately that still happens today (John 3:16-21). But Jesus is about building communities.

The main reason that Jesus did not share the lonely fate of modern superheroes is that he fought his battles differently. He chose to love and serve rather than fight his battle with his fists. It is ironic that superheroes fight their battles by becoming what they hate. Again, poor role models.

Jesus fought his battles by building a new kind of community, one that serves the outcasts, the hurting, and even enemies. He doesn't call us to be hermits. Instead, we're to be involved in other people's lives. Greatness in God's kingdom is not measured by power but by service.

If Jesus was preoccupied with people and went so far as to die to establish a new kind of community among believers, then community should be our primary concern. In the end, God's work is about people. We will not be judged by our personal power, our degrees, or our wealth. "Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mat. 20:26-28)" Community is vital in Jesus' eyes.