I want to begin a series of articles on the community
nature of the body of Christ. I will be taking some of my ideas and cues from
an article that Wendell Willis wrote with the title: “The Erosion of Community:
A Challenge to the Church.” (2011/2012).
Christian Studies 25: 9-19.
One
important trend has been noted regarding the
nature of religious community. Even though researchers and sociologists
agree that there has been a rise in the interest and practice of personal
spirituality, the same cannot be said regarding how people identify with
religious groups. One person notes that, “people do not belong to church the
way they once did, even when they show up for religious services.”
A deeply
imbedded value has changed for many Americans. “…Recently Americans have tended
to value institutions as support systems, without sensing any obligation that
they may have to those institutions” [Willis, p. 10].
What
this has brought about is the religious phenomenon of church shopping and
church hopping. Questions of taste precede questions of service. Where one
chooses to attend religious activities too often is based on self-serving
criteria.
This
erosion of personal commitment to a group negates a fundamental cohesion that
is necessary to any form of group life. Perhaps there is some logical reason
for this—the church has presented herself in the past as an unyielding
institution where people are used instead of served. We will continue this
discussion in the next few weeks. One parting thought…The church coheres when
the body of Christ offers the heart of Christ with the hands of Christ! This has to be embodied by men and women of faith who are led by the Spirit of God.
In Christian love, Curtis
