Book Review: Community 101

"Whether community happens or not may not be left to chance. Christians are under obligation to make it happen, and to make it happen as God intends it to be, not according to their own traditions and preferences, and certainly not according to alien patterns of non-community imported into the church from a world that is itself bereft of the joy of authentic community and yearning for it." -- Community 101 (p.44)

com-mu-ni-ty [kuh-myoo-ni-tee] - noun

1. a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
2. a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.
3. Ecclesiastical. a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.

Community 101, by Gilbert Bilezikian, is one of those books that if you'd asked me if I've read, I would reply, "Parts of it." It's been on my shelf for years and I have regularly referenced it during my experience(s) with community life, but I figured it was time to read it in its entirety.

In essence, Bilezikian is making a rational and passionate cry for the church to fulfill its essential nature and calling. A backwards way of saying that would be, the church is not fulfilling its essential nature and calling in the current conventional model that most of us are accustomed to.

In the past I've groaned a bit about how the word community has become one of those overused (and misused) Christian buzzwords.  Like any word in the English language, it is nothing more than a principal carrier of meaning that we use to communicate or express sentiment and emotion.

Bilezikian states that authentic community is absolutely critical if the church is to fulfill the mission that God intended for it.  The first third of the book focuses on the commutual interrelationship between oneness and community, resting firmly on the concept that the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) is the original community of oneness.

Bilezikian does a wonderfully thorough job of laying a biblical foundation to all of his talk on the importance of community.  As stated before, he draws on the centrality of community, as well as siting the story of the Fall when community was lost, how community was once again reclaimed through Jesus Christ, and ultimately the community of oneness created by God - the Holy City, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2).

In addition to the extensive commentary on the community of oneness, Bilezikian goes on to address how community can be expressed within the ministry and leadership of the church.

If you have never given serious thought to what it means to be a member of the bride of Christ; to belong to the body of believers... not just by way of salvation, but by way of obedient, submissive, sacrificial living, I urge you to pick up this book and read it now.  You'll discover that living in community cannot be a side issue or optional for Christians.  It is as important to God as one's salvation.  Without community, there is no Christianity.  Community is central to God's purposes for humankind - not manufactured community; not selective community; not exclusive community; not mandatory community - biblical community, as described, defined and demonstrated in scripture, found at the intersection of the two segments of the cross, where those who are reconciled with God can be reconciled together.

There is a rebellious nature in all of us.  There is no place for lone rangers in the fellowship of the unashamed.  I know this firsthand.  When I have been a lone ranger in my own ministry life, I have found myself apart from the community, isolated and separated from the oneness that God intends for all of us to have.  No one has the right to claim exemption from community for being different (I Corinthians 12:14-16). Nor does the body consist of only one kind of element or one kind of member - sameness is not a prerequisite for membership in the fellowship.

There are myriad examples of unhealthy, imbalanced communities all over the place. Nevertheless, as stated earlier, without community there is no Christianity.  I encourage you to discover the importance of life in community as stated in Bilezikian's Community 101.   

There and Back Again

When we set out for California in December, I had no idea that it would be so long between posts. I thought I would keep up with my entries regularly, but life happened... and it happened a lot.
When you only return home once every two years or so, there are so many people to see and things to do. We didn't get nearly as much time with some folks that we thought we would, and didn't see a number of folks that we were sure to.

We've been back for a little more than a week now and it seems that jet-lag is finally subsiding. The first few nights were really hard. I once heard someone say that it takes one day for every hour difference in your time zone than the one you've come from. Whomever said that clearly didn't have two toddlers. Gabrielle and Isabelle were waking two to three times a night for a few nights... and when they were awake, they were AWAKE. They wanted to play, sing, etc. Fortunately, our team (of which we have the fewest kids) were very patient and sympathetic regarding how quickly we re-submerged into ministry. Naturally, they've been through this a few times with their own travel-weary kids.

Despite the hectic schedule and unorthodox living arrangements, we had a wonderful visit in California. We had a fantastic Christmas with the family. Last time I spent Christmas in CA with my family, I was single and my sister and brother-in-law only had one one-year-old. Now they have two and we have two and Christmas morning was an onslaught of laughter, excitement, and flying wrapping paper. Along with their cousins (Nico & Molly), our girls had a blast and were showered with gifts from family friends - one of which was a day-pass to Disneyland. Gabrielle was in awe. Her first ride ever? It's a Small World... and she sang her lungs out. Her experience on that first ride was worth the whole trip to California.

One of the best experiences I had while home was sitting in on some of my dad's weekly meetings/groups. I got to step into his ministry for a spell and connect with some great men/pastors. It was enriching sharing ministry stories, experiences, vision and paradigms with these guys... and it was always accompanied with great food and bottomless cups of coffee.

Another cool treat was that we were able to connect with about half of the participants that were over here last year... and even a few that came on brief visits to check out our ministry in Glasgow. It was great to reconnect with them and hear how they're doing, what they're up to, and share about our new life in ministry with Christian Associates.

Sadly, as much as we needed space and relaxation, we had very little. We actually returned more tired than we'd arrived. We've spent the last week catching up on sleep and energy wherever we get the chance. Jasheen has marveled at my ability to knockout at any given moment when the opportunities present themselves. In fact, whenever I become sedentary for even a moment, I'm likely to shut my eyes and doze - reading, watching TV... even in mid-conversation. She's afraid I have chronic fatigue or something like that, but I think my body has just said, "ENOUGH ALREADY - SLEEP NOW!"

One of the other highlights of the trip was living in $US. The dollar is so weak right now and trying to stretch what we have in the UK is always a challenge. For a brief period, we enjoyed paying for the real value of our food and goods, instead of almost double.

As we return to what has become "normal life," we have realized that for the past six months we have either had house-guests or stayed in someone else's home. We have not had a moment to settle in anywhere as a family. We're hosting a friend now, and when she leaves, another friend from Amsterdam is coming to stay with us for a week, and after that we'll be hosting my brother for a week or two. While we love exercising hospitality and each and every person that stays here, we also long for some down time where we can just be a family. Please pray that the Lord would give us strength and discernment when it comes to boundaries for the health of our family and marriage. And pray that as we love on these guests, that we would also be enriched and blessed by their stay.

Oh! There are new pictures up on our flickr site if you'd like to see photos from our trip.
We're grateful for the time we got in CA and for all the love we received from the folks back there. Now it's back to the grind for us. Looking forward to sharing more things as ministry continues to develop here.

Here we Goooooo

We're mere hours away from our departure. Clan McKenzie will be spending the next month in California. In addition to visiting for Christmas and New Years, we will be connecting with many, many friends and family members. We are praying for relaxation and productivity as we catch up with all the people we hope to see. Some of the highlights we're hoping to have:

• Quality time with parents/grandparents/siblings/aunts & uncles/cousins
  
• Quality time with old and new friends
• Isabelle Sophia's baby dedication
• BOWL GAMES!!!
• Disneyland: Gabrielle will get her first taste
• Productive fundraising initiative
• Living for a month in $US, instead of £UK
• Did I mention BOWL GAMES???
• Mexican food
• Sushi
  

One thing we're not looking forward to, but trusting God's abundant grace:

• 18 hours of travel with a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old :)

California here we come... right back where we started from!

The Sacrifice of Fools

For the past few months our (Mosaic) community has been examining the Bible's Wisdom Literature. Most recently we've been looking at Wise Worship as described by the Biblical writer in Ecclesiastes 5 as The Sacrifice of Fools:
Ecclesiastes 5:1-15

The Old Testament refers to several different words and translations for the word "FOOL." Fools are described in these different ways:

• one who is morally and philosophically gullible - they believe anything easily
  
• one whose mind is closed to God (Ps 14 - "the fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'")
• one who believes in God, but doesn't take Him very seriously - such as in this passage. The text specifically says, "When you go to the House of God..." It is admonishing some in the company of worshippers

Regardless of how we publicly acknowledge God, our LIFESTYLE reveals whether or not we really (Really) take God seriously.

Verse 1 concludes with this description of the “FOOL” as one whose Lifestyle betrays just how serious they really are about God:
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than offer the sacrifice of fools, WHO DO NOT KNOW THAT THEY DO WRONG.”

The term “Wrong” literally means “EVIL.” This Person does not even realize that he/she is doing evil!

What is the evil they are perpetrating which they are not even conscious of?

It can be found in their lifestyle, which does not back-up their public acknowledgement of God. This is perhaps the greatest deterrent to someone else, and it never seriously considers God either. And that, my friends, is Wrong. And the biblical translation of wrong is literally "evil." And our simple understanding of evil is that it is designed in Hell itself, to prevent the world at large from ever giving serious consideration to God.

Friedrich Nietzsche states in his literary work, The Anti-Christ, "His disciples will have to look much more saved if I am ever to believe in their Savior."

This passage begins with the metaphor of FEET (or our STEPS) in verse 1. In verses 2-7 it moves to the metaphor of our MOUTHS, admonishing us to let our words be few when in the presence of the Almighty. The passage then ends with an address of our HEART, out of which issues the focus of our love.

Verse 10 records it, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied in his income."

How can we possibly portend to worship God and not have it change the way we live out our entire lives, and make our LIFESTYLE altogether different... even in the common, everyday workplace?
It is ONLY POSSIBLE IF WE REALLY DON’T TAKE GOD VERY SERIOUSLY.

And THAT, friends, according to Ecclesiastes is the mark of A FOOL!