BUzz Word

There are certain words in culture that take on the faddish category of “buzz words”. These words are used regularly to describe a movement or trend in culture and reflect the current ideas important to a particular age. Often these words are merely cliches that reflect the same thing as a buzz word. For instance, “bailout’ has been an oft cited word in our current economic crisis, as well as “green”. Behind each word there is an ideology behind the word as it takes on significance in the culture.

In the church, community is one such word that has received considerable attention, especially in our Western culture. Since the Enlightenment, “Homo Mensura”, or man the measure, has been a driving philosohpy in how man perceives the world he lives in and how that relates to others.

The individualism that pervades culture today poses a great challenge to this ideology, and the fact that we mention community so often is that we have a hard time engaging with it. Our lives can be superficial and distant from those around us, and we sometimes feel guilty for not really being a neighbor. Dealing with others is not always convenient, and it takes a lot of humility to stop one’s own agenda and interact with another. God showed us His love for us by sending His SOn to die for us while we were still sinners.

I write this post recognizing that I fight the tendency to withdraw and escape from community in the church and with my family. The community I am in is not one I’d necessarily chose to be in; it is the graciousness and will of God that I bee in community to share together with other believers the Word and Sacraments that define the church community.

Though it is so important to be aware of, in light of God establishing His church, there is the sinful desire to do what is right in our own eyes. Hebrews declares that we not forsake the gathering and celebrate what Christ has done on our behalf. John mentions the one anothering passages to remind us of our dependency on Christ and our community.

It’s a shame that so many are moving from church to church or not even going to church at all. More on this to come. SDG