CommUNITY
Community is a BIG part of a Racers life. Why? Well, because there is not a moment we are alone somewhere unless it’s the bathroom. When were not with the whole team we have to have at least one other person with us. It’s called the buddy system.
Community is probably both one of the hardest parts and best parts of the race. Just take a moment and imagine the reality of living with 6-7 people (and sometimes 41) besides your own family at all times. There is no way to hide all your ugly… but that’s when the beauty of it comes in.
You see, it’s not solely a group of people that make a community; it’s unity within that group of people that form a commUNITY. We could have chosen to miss out on what community really is here on C-Squad, but I can assure that C-Squad has chosen into true community and I’m blessed to be apart of it.
It has been said over and over again that we won’t have this kind of community back home after the race… Which in a lot of cases is true, but why? The only reason I can figure out at this time is our lack of seeking and initiating community. Maybe I’ll change my mind… Nevertheless, serving with Outpour Movement in Thailand has me thinking about this. We did many things in ministry there and I’m kicking myself for not sharing more when it was all fresh. At this point, it will be easier to just explain it all in person if you really want to hear.
So for now, I walked away from that place impacted by the community there within the staff. There was something different from months before that I felt as soon as we arrived. It felt a lot like the community we have here on C-Squad. So it is possible beyond the race??? I think that’s when the Lord really began giving me a heart for community, one outside of the World Race culture.
Now, I don’t know exactly what post-race looks like for me. The Lord has given me a dream and some guidance that I will share with you in a later blog. Until then, I know community is apart of that dream. Okay, maybe not where we are able to spend every moment and every day together, but a community that is honest and vulnerable; no flaws hidden or looked down upon. One that can call out righteousness in each other; whether that be affirming or holding each other accountable to better represent Christ and who He is in them. One that worships together and has a heart to see His Kingdom on earth multiply.
This is the community that I saw at Outpour Movement. Not only did I see it, but also was apart of it. They invited each of us guys to do life with them for a month. To them, we were more than a team passing through. We were apart of the family. We were apart of the vision the Lord has there for Thailand and Burma. For three weeks and throughout the month we spent hours in prayer and worship over that place. Then we watched the Lord bring healing and move in ways that we could not have planned on our own. It was all a result of much prayer, listening, and obedience.
That’s how I want to live out my life and I know I’m not supposed to do it alone. The Lord speaks of the importance of a body (Christian brothers and sisters working together) and the unity that is needed.
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Eph. 4:11-13
“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
Col. 3:13-14
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
1 Cor. 12:12-13
Those are just a few verses that talk about Christian community. We weren’t meant to do this thing alone. The Word explains how us as believers are all a part of one body. Not that we are all the same but very different and unique. Just like our physically bodies need each part to work properly and the way it was designed, the same goes for our spiritual; the different parts being each other.
So here’s to Outpour Ministries, C-squad, and whatever community looks like for me in the future. I love y’all!
#41STRONG
