Purpose in Community

Have you noticed how basic home design has transformed in the last 10-20 years?  Front porches have gotten smaller and patios and fenced-in back yards have grown larger.  It is possible to come home from a day out in the world, remotely open your garage door, pull in, and close the door behind you...all without interacting with your neighbors next door, or across the street.  It is a growing trend...notably, more significant among Millennials in their 30s.   A survey by the Ownerly Team revealed some interesting results:

1. Nearly 1 in 6 people don't know any of their neighbors' names.  This increases to 26% for Millennials.
2. People living in apartments are least likely to know their neighbors' names.
3. Older respondents (60+) reported knowing 11 or more of their neighbors' names.  Interestingly, young Millennials (in their 20s) were the second largest group to know 11+ names of their neighbors.  However, Millennials in their 30s were least likely to know 11 or more of their neighbors' names.

What is the significance?  People have a decreasing sense of community in our culture.  At the writing of this post, we are emerging (hopefully) from a worldwide pandemic that has kept people in lockdown for months...isolating us from neighbors, friends and family.  This survey was done just prior to the beginning of the pandemic...I wonder what the numbers would look like after a year of isolation and social distancing?

There was a day when the sense of community was woven into the fabric of our lives.  Neighbors would sit together on their porches and share stories of the day.  Kids would play in the street or gather in a neighbor's yard for a friendly game of baseball or hide-n-seek.  It was not unusual for a family to leave their doors  unlocked when they left home for a few hours, because they trusted one another and everyone looked out for their neighbors.  Any parent in the neighborhood could parent, correct and guide any child in their yard or home...everyone felt they were a part of a community.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

God has created us for community.  Think about His nature and character, as reflected in who He is and how he has worked to accomplish His plan.

• He is a tri-une God...that is, One God manifested in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
• He demonstrated cooperative work from the beginning when He said, "Let us make man in our own image."
• He sent His Son to the earth, named Emmanuel...meaning "God with us."
• He calls all who place their trust in Him, His children.
• When God established the early church in Acts 2, they immediately began to meet together daily, in their homes and in the Temple, for worship, study and fellowship.
• God is preparing a home for all those who follow Him by faith in Jesus Christ...He wants to spend eternity with His family of faith.

This only scratches the surface, but I think it is clear that God values relationship and community.  He is a God of relationship and He has called us to enjoy and thrive in community.  We are at our best when we are together...better together.  Many of the struggles of our world can be traced to the division that comes through hatred, distrust and fear.  The opposite is also true.  When the people of God come together and selflessly love one another and those around them, God does some amazing things to heal and redeem his fallen creation.  It only stands to reason that God would use community in our lives to help us understand and pursue His purpose for us.  That is the reason we have established Purposed 365 as a community of encouragement and inspiration!  We are better together!  Here are a few reasons why we believe engaging in relational community is valuable in living our purpose.

The Value of Relationship in Living Our Purpose

• Clarity and Focus - The Sounding Board

Living out our purpose through relationship and community provides clarity and focus.  We know the value of having a sounding board, where we can verbalize our thoughts, dreams and goals.  Whether it is a trusted friend, a mentor, or a life coach, talking through our thoughts can help us sift out the chaff and sow the seed that will bear fruit in our lives.  An objective perspective provides a voice of reason.  Someone has said that every Christ Follower needs a "Paul," a "Barnabas" and a "Timothy."  This point could be that "Paul" to whom you give permission to speak into your life...providing insight and guidance.

• Confidence - Encouragement

This relationship could be considered your "Barnabas."  His name means "son of encouragement," and he was a companion of the apostle Paul, who worked side-by-side with the missionary as He preached the gospel.  We are helped along the path of our purposed life when we have that friend who exercises their gift of encouragement toward us.  When we face those challenging moments and we don't feel we have the strength to keep going, God often uses the words of a "Barnabas" to help us keep on going...soaring to new heights.

• Contribution - Sharing our Wisdom

​Here is where your "Timothy" comes into the equation.  He was Paul's protege into which he poured a great deal of investment, giving Timothy the opportunity to grow and learn...preparing him for ministry.  Who are you pouring into?  As you are learning and growing in your understanding of the purpose God has planned for you, there is much that you are gaining which would be valuable for others to learn in their own pursuit of purpose.  Investing in others not only benefits them.  It also benefits us.  As Aristotle wrote, "Those who know do.  Those who understand, teach."  Investing your experience and knowledge into another, solidifies and deepens that knowledge...helping you further clarify and apply what you have learned.  Invest for them and for you.

• Complement - Strengths-Based Living

No one has it all.  Discovering our strengths and weaknesses is a part of the process of self-awareness.  As believers, we have all been given spiritual gifts from which we are expected to carry out our purpose.  We are all members of the body of Christ...each of us playing specific roles that work together in harmony with the others.  When we realize our gifting and we live fully in that gifting, we find that our purpose flows naturally from that equipping.  We complement one another with our strengths and weaknesses offsetting one another.  Paul explained, "It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:11-12).

• Challenge - Accountability

Life offers challenges to each of us.  Just as we need to recognize our strengths in order to fulfill our purposed life, we also need to understand where our weaknesses lie...where we are most vulnerable.  One of the most important relationships we need is having a trusted person with whom we can be open and honest...giving them permission to hold us accountable for our decisions and thinking.  This mutual and encouraging relationship can hep us maintain our focus and direction in life, when the enemy wants to do whatever he can to destroy us.  We only fool ourselves when we think we don't need anyone else.  Stepping out to trust another person enough to be vulnerable and open may be the most important step you take in living your purpose.  Don't think it's too late...start where you are and don't wait another day.  "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:16).

Maybe tonight, as you drive in from your long day at work, park in the driveway.  Get out of the car and walk across the street...introduce yourself to your name, and start working on learning those names.  You never know when you may meet a friend that will become your Paul, Barnabas or Timothy.  So, go ahead...step into community...into relationships that will enhance and facilitate your pursuit of your God-given purpose.  Allow the voice and partnership of others help you fulfill a life that you may never know otherwise.  Live purposed in community!

Who is speaking into your life?  Where do you find partnerships in pursuing your purpose?  How have you benefitted from community?  Like, share and start a conversation in the comments...we need one another!