A few nights ago, Bernice and I hosted a dinner for some young Christian dentists and their mentor, a professor from dental school. We were meeting to see how we could more intentionally mentor dental students who were serious about following Christ in their professions. One of the questions that came up was: “How do we help our people not to be seduced by the love of money?” My answer: “Ensure that they are in authentic Christian community.” This was a truth that was reinforced in our recent trip back to Penang for the Lunar New Year holidays.
In Penang, Bernice and I had dinner with two other couples — a politician and his wife, and a doctor (who is now involved in the medical care industry) and his wife. We have known them for more than ten years and it was good to catch up.
Here were two brothers working in areas that were notoriously difficult for Christians — politics and business — and arguably work with even more moral pressures than dentistry, especially in Malaysia. I was deeply moved that they were still rooted in the faith, and still following Jesus in their lives and in their callings. None of us had any illusions that it was easy. I knew of some of the difficulties they have had to face in following Christ in their work.
In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us not to conform to the pattern of this world. Politicians and business folks are at the frontlines of this battle. Paul goes on to exhort us to go beyond resisting the pressures of this world. We are to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). God promises us that the power of the new life in us, power that raised Jesus from the dead, is available to His people to withstand the pressures of a fallen world and to empower us to be salt and light.
However, we are often blindsided by fatigue and busyness. No matter how impossible it may be, Christian politicians, business folks, dentists, indeed all of us, need to ensure we live life with the God-given rhythm of hard work and Sabbath. We need to ensure that we make time to rest, to regain perspective, to renew our relationship with God and with the key people in our lives, on a regular basis. I know my friends were trying to do that. The dinner was one example of their making time for a Sabbath experience — sharing food, faith and life around the table, making time for community.
In Mark 1:14–15, Jesus begins His public ministry, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom. The first thing He does after announcing His Kingdom initiative is to call together His first disciples (Mark 1:16–20). This is also a sequence we see in Matthew (4:12–22) and early in Luke (5:1–11). The lesson is clear. We are to follow Christ in community.
Yet this is the greatest failure of the modern urban church. Too many focus on teaching, activism, and large-group experiences. These things are important but few help their members to follow Christ in genuine community. Some groups are worried that too much community will make people soft and less committed to ministry. I think this concern is misplaced. Jesus’s idea was that true community would inspire and encourage disciples to minister. Indeed in John 15, Jesus tells us that we can only bear fruit if we remain in Him, and a key component of remaining in Him is to be in communities where we love one another as Christ has loved us (John15:1–17).
Recently the Graceworks team went on a retreat to relook at our ministry. We wanted to be sure that we were doing what the Lord wanted us to do. We were convicted afresh that our original calling still stands — that we are called to promote relational transformation, helping churches and communities experience life-changing authentic community through teaching, training and publishing. This is often a lonely calling. While more and more people acknowledge the importance of community, few are willing to pay the price to make sure it happens. Often we get this response: “Community is a good idea but we are too busy to do it seriously.” We have our work cut out for us.
*Stock image courtesy of xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net