New Community, Part I

This past month I entered into a community that I had little knowledge existed. This community is a little different. There are gatherings, events, websites and t-shirts but what I've noticed so far is the wave. The wave is what happens when one Jeep Wrangler passes another. Sound familiar? It would if you rode a motorcycle.

Since I'm also a motorcycle rider I'm familiar with the wave. It happens when one bike passes the other. It is an acknowledgement of the other rider, a code, or gesture if you will, that you know and are part of that group. The wave takes on many forms: the two finger sweep, the open palm, the point, the salute, the peace sign, and I've even seen the single barrel shot with a barrel smoke blow. What I didn't know was that Wrangler drivers have a similar tradition. I bought a Jeep Wrangler and now belong to that community. We wave at each other. Silly? Maybe, but it is what is done and I'm going to do it too.

I think deep down things like this begin because everyone wants to belong to something. A community is made up of like-minded people who enjoy their commonality and meet together to support or promote that which they love. The Church is one of those communities. The Church loves Jesus so they meet together to talk about Jesus, learn about Jesus, worship Jesus, and to just be around those that love all things Jesus. But churches like other communities have their disagreements. This is evident in the amount of churches and denominations that we see today.

There are motorcycles that I pass where the wave never takes place. The wave is often snubbed by Harley riders to the riders of a different brand or style of bike. My bike is a sport bike thus it is not respected by some in the cruiser community and I'm snubbed on the wave. Some Harley riders can be snobby and will only belong to the smaller Harley community of bike riders within the greater community of those on two wheels. Me? I wave to anyone on two wheels with a motor, including scooters. But there are those that don't. They think the scooter isn't worthy of the wave or maybe the crotch rocket is some punk kid that doesn't appreciate the fine craftsmanship of the chopper. Whatever the reason division happens.

You see this same thing everyday in the church. I've met people who snub other churches because they use the electric guitar in worship or that they don't take communion each week. Throughout the ages divisions have taken place over political stances, doctrinal disagreements, interpretation, policy and practice, etc. These divisions have resulted in an estimate of over 39,000 denominations of Christianity being developed over the ages. Did you read that? Thirty nine thousand! This is according to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary who estimates by the year 2025 there will be 55,000 different denominations. That is a new denomination every twelve hours.

That division amongst believers makes the division between square headlights and round headlights in the Wrangler world look good. For the record, I can't stand square headlights on Wranglers. What happened to unity under Christ. I can hear it now "Jesus is Lord but if you pull out the drums in worship I'm going somewhere else." It is almost like Christians go looking for things to create division, to make their community smaller. Is a smaller community better? Or is a unified community better? I vote for the latter. I think the more division a community has the less attractive it is to those outside the community as a whole.

We weren't created for division, we were created for community. Look at the way the majority of people in the world live, they live in cities where close quarters are a way of life. If we weren't made with a natural bent for community I don't think cities would be as big as they are. I dare you to stand in New York city and start yelling "New York SUCKS!!!" You won't because you know you'll get your ass kicked. The people of New York are proud of their city. Flaws and all when it all comes down to it they are New Yorkers.

more later...