Community doesn’t work because of me.
And because of people like me.
People who have grandiose dreams of what community should be.
Dreamers are a gift.
And they are a curse.
Adventures in Missions (or AIM, the organization behind The World Race) dreams of a community rich in feedback – the process of exposing weakness in vulnerability and attempting to strengthen it through fellowship and discipleship.
AIM dreams of a community lifestyle built on intentionality. Racers must intentionally “choose in” when confronted with difficult or uncomfortable situations, intentionally spend an hour or more in what we call “team time” everyday and intentionally seek out your teammates for 1 on 1’s.
AIM dreams of a community filled with leaders. Those who are made leaders are told to empower those who aren’t, and those who are not leaders are told to “lead without a title” … Everyone is a leader.
I dream of a community rich in feedback, too. I dream of a community that intentionally chooses the Word and the study of it over anything else (like sleep or personal time). I dream of leading a revolution – like Gandhi or MLK Jr. – for the case of Christ. I dream about social justice and living off the land, of being intentionally poor and suffering because other people suffer… because Christ suffered.
I dream of revolution, not of vacation.
And that’s exactly what The World Race feels like to me… Like everyone here isn’t up to my standard because they would rather go see the view from Table Mountain on their off day instead of devoting all of their personal time to studying scripture (which I don’t even do). “They aren’t here for missions”, I think, “They’re just here to travel and have fun.” It’s so poisonous, so cancerous. Thoughts like these are a disease that eat away at you – they make you apathetic to the ministry of others. They make you see your brothers and sisters as enemies or as obstacles to be overcome. They’ve made me think for a while now “Maybe I’m not supposed to be here after all.”
Selfish desires and expectations destroy community. In truth, my dreams have become my god and the failure to have these dreams actualized leaves me blaming the one true God for not complying with them and blaming my teammates for not living up to the standards I’ve set.
AIM is left in a position not so different than mine. Teams feel like they are failing when they don’t have an hour of team time every night. Leaders feel like they are failing when they themselves choose to lead instead of empowering others to do so. Individuals feel like failures when they don’t know how to “choose in” because the situation they are in is really, really tough.
It’s people like me, who dream of community as being something more than what God has offered us, that become in themselves the one thing that prevents the pure and true community they so earnestly desire.
This month has been the hardest month of The World Race so far (and any of my teammates would tell you the same) but interestingly enough, it has been the most unified team I have been a part of all year. And I can tell you this, it’s because the dreaming stopped. The obligation of it all – stopped. We’ve had only 1 official team time, only 1 official feedback session, and exactly 0 revolutions. What we have done is work together – long hard laborious days, cooked and eaten together, and we’ve sat by the fire and laughed and talked for hours almost every single night. It’s life. We’ve simply had life together.
You know, people do things for one of two reasons
Either they’re obligated to or they want to…
And community living will only work with people who want to do it. It can not be forced or else it will lead only to frustration and disappointment.
But I think community living should be simple…
God has promised us, simply, this: where there are 2 or 3 gathered together in My Name, I am there in their midst. (Matt 18:20) So, let us spend time together with brethren. He promises us that if we walk in the light… we will have fellowship with one another. (1 John 1:7) In much the same way, A.W. Tozer once said that “piano’s tuned to the same key are in tune with each other also.” Let us again make Christ the focus – as opposed to our dreams – and community will naturally – and simply – follow.
