I’ve been learning a lot about healthy community and accountability here… I mean, I still have a lot to learn, but these past 3 weeks have been a good start.
One of the things we do each night as a team is get together and have feedback. This means: we call each other out…on both the good and the bad things. We get together and share our concerns and joys about each other. We tell each other what’s up. We do it shamelessly (at least, we should be doing it shamelessly). We encourage each other… and ultimately, we love each other.
Feedback is scary… but beautiful.
Let’s be honest, nobody likes confrontation at first. It’s scary to have people look past your surface and see who you really are – to see your imperfections that you might try so hard to hide. It’s scary to have someone call you out on those imperfections. It’s even scarier to have someone call you out on those things in front of a group of people.
But the more you encounter such feedback, the more you learn to love it. Every session becomes a little easier and more beautiful, because every time you receive constructive words you are called into a greater place. You are called to become a better person. You are given encouragement and advice on how to do that. You learn that having imperfections is part of life, that those things should not be ignored, and that they’re not that scary to discuss. You learn even more how much you need Christ in your life. And you learn that even though these people see your imperfections and call you out on them, that doesn’t mean that they love you any less. In fact, I think it means that they love you even more.
I’m learning that in order to truly love someone you need to be willing to be honest and call them out on their crap, no matter how hard or awkward it might be. You also need to be faithful in encouraging them. You need to be willing to walk alongside them as they are learning about life (and they should be willing to do the same). You need to be vulnerable and selfless. You need to be willing to look past their surface and into their heart – to see who they really are, both the good at the bad… and you need to be willing to love them more and more with each step deeper you get.
Just as importantly, you need to be willing and open to having others do the same for you.
When acted out in these ways, community becomes an even more beautiful place to be. Even more beautiful than I previously thought it was.
I’m stoked to have ten more solid months of such community to grow and thrive in. I’m stoked to be around people who are going to call me into becoming a better person and to be able to do the same for them. I’m stoked to see what God has in store for us.
I’m just flat out stoked.
Adios!
