Wednesday, February 25
Thoughts on a faith community…
Below is something written by someone in our Crossings community. Jason Edelen has been a part of Crossings since about 4-5 months into our existence. He posted this on his blog and I asked his permission to share it with you…It’s tremendous…(don’t be scared by the length, take the time to read it)
Over the last 19 months, I’ve had to redefine my own perception of community. I had always perceived a community as a simple gathering of things … a gathering of homes on a street, a gathering of people in a square mile radius, a gathering of believers in a church, etc. But that’s really it. A gathering. A group. A number of things grouped together.
Any notions of this word that went deeper than a just a gathering bordered on the weird - hippies, cult-like religious fanatics (Branch Davidians, Jesus Juice), nudists. The thought of “joining” a community brought to mind images of a Lion’s Club, Mason’s, or being on the community activist planning committee.
Part of my reservation in understanding true community stems from my natural desire to be sort of reclusive. I’m great at being outgoing, funny, witty, and comfortable in front of groups of people, but only when there’s no real investment involved. It’s easy for me to be a likable, humorous, engaging version of myself when I know those around me won’t really have the opportunity to know the real me.
But, ultimately, when it comes to true friendships, I’ve always been a real one-on-one, very small group of 3 or 4 friends type of guy. As much as I hate cliques, I enjoy them in my own reality. I like fitting into a small group of like minded people, loving others but keeping them at a distance, enjoying inside jokes, exclusive experiences, “you had to be there” moments. Even 11 years removed from college, I sometimes long deeply for those days, when I had 4 really great friends who were always around. They knew me. I knew them. Except for the cute girls I had crushes on, I could have cared less about the other 600 students.
Crossings, slowly but surely, has begun to change all that. In this place, I have witnessed, heard about, seen, and experienced community in a new way. A way I wasn’t sure existed. A way that is magnetic, authentic, passionate, and deep. I’ve had the opportunity to engage in a guys-only small group that has grown, changed, grown again, served together, studied, laughed, prayed, and opened ourselves up to one another.
I’ve seen everyday needs being met by others. Heard stories of community-provision that brought tears to my eyes. Even now, our neighbor (a family of 3) is about to be without a home….and families within the Crossings community, without even having met these people, have opened their homes and offered them a place to live.
I’ve seen a community truly engaged in the Sunday morning teachings. I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a church where people could actually recall what had been taught 2 or 3 months earlier. I’ve seen people of ALL ages engage fully in worship. In a setting where you might expect only 20-somethings to be comfortable….there are 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70-somethings enjoying themselves every week.
I’ve seen people give of themselves week after week, hours upon hours, to own this community and make it a special place. I’ve seen people really examine their lifelong beliefs and traditions - not because we expect them to “conform” - but because they’re finally taking steps to make their faith THEIR faith, and not the one that was handed to them. And even when their beliefs or traditions don’t match up exactly with what we do at Crossings, they are tolerant and accepting, realizing that we are all on the same journey together, and that what really matters is not communion rules, alter calls, or song styles, but the lifelong struggle of finding your way back to God.
God is still working on me. I can tell there’s more to this community-thing than I have yet to experience. I’m still working on just being me, on being transparent and authentic. I’m still struggling with how to let-in all 8 guys in my small group, rather than just 3 or 4. And I’ve been in a months-long dilemma with understanding and responding to God’s call in my life.
But everyday is an amazing adventure. Every Sunday is life-change just waiting to happen. Every Thursday night is an opportunity for friendship, growth, and honesty. Every evening at home is a chance to live out God’s love with my family. And through it all, community happens.
Funny thing. I rarely call Crossings a church anymore. Not to myself, to my friends, to my co-workers. Not that church is a bad word. It’s just somehow not sufficient in today’s vernacular. We are a faith community. We do community, live community, share community, flesh community, cry community, and teach community.
It’s like there are 1000 meanings of the word community, and for the first 31 years of my life, I only knew 2 of them. But God does what God does, and now I know about 30 meanings. And there are 970 more that He’s just waiting to reveal to me, in His own time, as I’m ready to understand them myself. Almost like He’s smiling, nervous, anticipating, excited for me to learn the next meaning. I know just how He feels.
Mark Nelson at 8:54 AM 4comments
4 Comments
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at 3:10 PM
said... That is tremendous ... and very exciting to get to read what God's doing at Crossings.
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at 12:41 PM
Unknown said... I would have a comment as long as Jason's post if I commented on everything I agree with in it...It is all so true and so many people I know at crossings feel the same way and have voiced that feeling to me. I am awed by the experience of belonging to this faith community where God is so obviously present. Thanks to Jason for putting into words what we're all thinking...
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at 8:33 AM
Derek said...
Mark,
Just wanted to let you know that I was at a food show in Chicago this last Wednesday and Eli's Cheesecake was there. Anyways, I wasn't really in the mood to eat anymore food because I had been eating all day, but I really just wanted to go try their stuff and talk to them after the video you sent them.
Anyways, I told them that I knew a minister in Tennessee that used their cheesecake for an illustration..and that was all that I got out of my mouth and the lady's face lit up and she said "CROSSINGS!" As far as I know she was just one of their reps trying to sell their product, but she certainly knew about you guys and was excited to be apart of what you are all doing. It is cool to see the impact Crossings can have, even many states away.
derek-
at 8:49 AM
Mark Nelson said...
Derek,
That's so stinking cool...
Eli's Cheesecake has been amazing, we're so blessed to be in partnership with them...
Hope you're well...
shalom,
mark