Every week (mostly) I spend a good deal of time preparing to present some aspect of the message from Mars Hill Church to the community group that I lead. After I complete the discussion I thought it might be personally profitable for me to write out what I came up with, incorporating anything pertinent from the group discussion. This is the material from March 8, 2010.
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:27-32
This week we continue the study of the life of Jesus examining his interaction with the tax collector named Levi, and in his calling we find some great examples of what it means to practice good community. In this narrative from Luke we see three steps in the process (to borrow some phrases from Driscoll):
- Follow Jesus
- Start a Community Group
- Repent, Repent, Repent
Personally, I find the order of the activities particularly interesting. Of course the command to follow Jesus precedes all, for that is where the motivation comes for all that will happen later. But one might expect that the next step will be the revelation of sin in the life of Levi, and the inevitable priod of conviction and repentance that lead to a changed life. Instead we see that after meeting Jesus at the tax booth Levi’s immediate reaction is to call together all his friends and fellow sinners so that they too may come to know Jesus. The life-analysis and study that leads to the revelation of sin, conviction, and ultimately repentance follows, rather than precedes, the starting of this new “community group.”
Instead of having to “get oneself right” in order to participate in relationships with others (both Christian and non-Christian), we see that good community helps “get ourselves right” for relationship with God through conviction of sin and accountability. Thus the importance of involvement in community is stressed as an immediate reaction of the newly-called disciple of Christ.
But what makes good community and, considering many of us are already practicing good community of one sort or another, what are the risks to good community once established? Let’s limit the discussion for the time being to that of Christian community since, after all, this is a blog about Christian community groups.
There are two primary dangers that I see to the practice of healthy community. The first is that the success of our community group would lead to pride that is not focused on Christ. This can either happen in a religious or worldly sense. The second is that in reaching out to sinners we would become so blind to sin that we ourselves fall into temptation.
We find an example of the first risk in Galatians 2:11-14. Here we see that Paul opposing Peter who has refused to eat with Gentile Christian.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, l live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Galatians 2:11-14
In this case Peter had previously eating with the Gentiles exercising a freedom that he was granted in Christ to ignore the previously strict dietary guidelines that governed what Jews could and could not eat. But, upon the arrival of some Christians of Jewish heritage, Peter pulled back and excluded Gentile Christians from his fellowship. This rejection comes despite Peter’s previous affirmation of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles expressed in the preceding passage: Galatians 2:7-10. Here we see the risk of allowing pride in our community to color our interactions with others. For me, this risk takes the form of wanting to get everything in my life “just so.” I can sympathize with Peter who in his refusal to eat with the Gentiles was reacting to the deep-seated beliefs that have their origin in the strongly-stated Levitical laws regarding what was permissible to eat. Although the laws from the Old Testament regarding food had been made obsolete by the redemption of Christ, there was still an uneasiness that came with the new dietary freedom that undoubtedly created significant discomfort for Christian Jews, Peter in particular. Although selfish and wrong, his decision was at least based on a desire rooted in the commands of the Lord. I’m convicted when I consider how many times I avoid dealing with certain people or situations to avoid discomfort not because of a misunderstood command of the Lord, but purely based on my own selfish desire to have things the way that I want them to be.
Such an attitude is toxic to good community. This not only expresses great selfishness, but it puts us in a position where we are completely ineffective for the spread of the gospel. By ensuring that we allow our “boat to be rocked” in this regard we ensure that the following positive benefits will come out of our community groups:
- Selfishness will be eliminated as we are forced out of our comfort zone.
- We will be constantly aware of the sinfulness and brokenness of ourselves and of the world.
The second danger to good community is found in 1 Corinthians 5 where we see the unwillingness of the Corinthian church to deal with the explicit sin found among Christian brothers:
It is actually reported that there is w sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5
The second risk touches on the need for good community to help us realize our own sinfulness and urge us to repentance. If the first risk of community is being too judgmental, then this second risk is that of refusing to engage in accountability with our fellow Christians. This is important because we are all called to live above reproach, this is how the glory of God is demonstrated in the redeemed and changed lives of Christians. This means that, as good community members, we must be willing to put aside our comfort and have those difficult conversations and interactions in which sin can be exposed and put to death.
In concluding, it’s important to note here that the judgment in this case is not directed to those outside the community, or to non-Christians, but rather to those members of the group who profess to follow Christ and yet still live in sin. In the passage from Luke, and all thought the ministry of Jesus we see his desire to reach out to the “unclean” and help heal them of their sin them as a spiritual physician. So like him, we must be constantly reaching out to the world around us maintaining the delicate balance between internal moral consistency and external unconditional love.
