Community… the World Race’s mirror used to show your true reflection… it is the thing that most racers
come to hate on the Race and the thing that most Racers miss the most
when we get off the field. I’ll be honest and say that community
sucks… there is nothing easy about it. Imagine spending 24 hours a
day with the same people for 11 months. I mean married people have
more time apart. Now imagine said people seeing your every move, your
every action, and your every reaction. Now imagine said people
sitting in a circle with you at the end of the day and telling you
what you did wrong and how you can be better.
STOP. REWIND.
Focus on that last sentence, “Now
imagine said people sitting in a circle with you at the end of the
day and telling you what you did wrong and how you can be better.” Who likes to be called out… ever…? It sucks, does it not? Now
THIS is the painfully beautiful essence of the World Race community.
When we came here we came into an agreement to live in a community
like this, and I can promise that none of us really knew what we were
getting ourselves into when we signed up for it. The first thing in
World Race community to remember is that we are not actually calling
each other out, we are calling each other up. You see,
when my teammates sit me down and say “Joel, you can do better
here…”, in all honesty, my flesh wants to lash out and RIP
THEIR FACES OFF (with words, not literally, that’s not good…).
Every part of me wants to yell at them and say, “who are you to
tell me…” But my spirit during this whole time is feeling a
chain come off and is given even more freedom to be like Christ. As
racers we have to choose two important things, one is to not view our
teammates as themselves but as Christ. The second thing that we must
choose to do is to remember that the way that we view ourselves and
the way others perceive us are two different things, and with that
other people can see in us what we cannot, usually a
potential to reach a higher standard. So this is where we get out of
calling out and into calling up. My teammates see with Christ eyes a
Joel that I could never dream of and they have been given a charge to
continue to call me up into that. Every time they do so, a little bit
more of my flesh dies away, and a little bit more of this man that
the enemy wants me to believe is impossible to bring to life is left.
So I would like to end this with a
question or two. Do you have people like this in your life? Not just
people who are willing to tell you the hard truth, but people who you
know are looking at you like Christ would and calling you into a
person that you never knew existed. If you don’t have this, are you
willing to allow people in your life who will do this for you?
Ultimately this is the community that the church is lacking but so
desperately needs.
14 And we urge you, brothers,
admonish
the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with
them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV
Admonish
– 1) to caution, advise, or counsel against something. 2) to
reprove or scold, especially in a mild and good-willed manner. 3) to
urge to a duty: remind.
