Lesson 10: The Need for Community

A missing element in spirituality today is community. Throughout the ages, many individuals have written about their spiritual thoughts and experiences, and almost all, in one way or another, were connected to a community of faith. Yes, there have been hermit monks and isolated mystics, but overwhelmingly, being spiritual meant participating with a certain kind of group.

In fact, most people who spoke to me personally about significant spiritual experiences in nature, music, yoga, or meditation related them to their religion. Their church gave them words to explain what took place. What happened reinforced what they already believed.

A community is important for a number of other reasons. It provides accountability. The opinion of other people checks one’s own. Often, some kind of confession establishes a regular self-examination and evaluation of personal practice.

The community offers inspiration by providing various means of grace. These might be sacraments that supply spiritual gifts. They certainly involve others sharing ideas that broaden your own perspective and offer guidance. This might be a sermon, a class, or a casual conversation.

In fact, spirituality assumes a different form in a congregation. Caring for one another comes naturally as you share your life with people you know. Friendship also leads to prayer for each other and common causes.

Perhaps the most critical aspect of community in our day is the tradition that preserves the wisdom of the past. Many in our day are uncomfortable with that, claiming it no longer expresses meaning and purpose for them. The problem is that completely rejecting this removes important proven norms in a time when we surely could use them. It might help to remember tradition is not closed. The current generation adds its own insights before passing it on to the next.

Two personal experiences reinforce my appreciation for community. The first involved an intensive study of televangelists when I was a young adult. Their message always focused on a personal relationship with Jesus that guaranteed your entrance into heaven after death and good family, good health, and good money in this life. The personal relationship was pure magic produced by reciting a Jesus Prayer. There was never a proclamation of the way, the truth, and the life described in the Gospels. The only reference to community was the call to leave your lukewarm congregation and join a Bible-believing church. And the only Bible passages cited were the creation story interpreted literally and verses about giving in order to receive. That pretty much covered thousands and thousands of hours viewing their programs.

The other experience was serving as a very skeptical assistant to Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade, when our college president brought him to lead a revival on our campus. The focus was again on a personal acceptance of Jesus’ salvation. For follow-through, Bright reported the names of well over a thousand who made a commitment during the week. When the Student Christian Association invited them by personal letter to gather with one another to consider the future, only three showed up. None wanted to affiliate with a church, saying they would handle things on their own.

Spirituality in both situations was a matter between an individual person and God. The only role the community played was proclamation and confrontation. I came away thinking this is a very shallow understanding that was more magic than religion. Without community, spirituality was only a fleeting emotional experience with very little meaning and purpose.

Tags: Absence of Spirituality in Modern Society, History of Spirituality, Seeking Spiritual Life, Spiritual Experiences, Spirituality, Spirituality and Community, Spirituality and Televangelism., Spirituality and Tradition, Spirituality Connects beyond Self, Spirituality in Human Civilization, Spirituality in Modern Society, Spirituality Provides Meaning and Purpose