New perspective on community

As Christians, we are called to love others despite our differences and preferences

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35, ESV).

Speaking to his disciples in the Upper Room on the night he was betrayed, Jesus urged his followers to love each other as he loved them. He had just washed their grimy, sweaty, smelly feet and then broke bread and drank wine with them, preparing to show them the full extent of his love.

The 12 disciples in that room were all different. They came from different places, were of differing socioeconomic classes and were different ages. Some were fisherman, one was a tax collector, one was a zealot (i.e., a Jew who was willing to defend his people from Rome at any cost) and one betrayed him. They differed in their political ideologies and family lives. Some were married and some were single.

Yet, they all had one thing in common: They had all been called by Jesus, invited to be his friends.

As I begin my final year at Liberty University, I am thinking about community.

The followers of Jesus that I read about in the New Testament are all unique. No two of them are the same. They have different joys and sorrows, strengths and weaknesses.
But they all belong to Jesus.

So it is with our community at Liberty. We are all different, and our differences are what make us beautiful.

I was convicted and challenged by a sermon I heard preached one Sunday this summer concerning Christian community. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have had the wrong idea for quite a while now.

Yes, Liberty University
is a Christian university. But is Liberty University a Christian community?

Jesus did not come merely to save individuals, as the pastor I listened to so wisely pointed out. He came to save us as a body. He came to save us as a family.

And that is exactly what we are if we are followers of Christ: a family.

Unfortunately, we sometimes treat our families worse than we treat strangers or new acquaintances.

Since I am naturally an introvert, it is easy for me to hide and come up with excuses for not getting together with people. It is easy for me to get wrapped up in my own little world as I go through my day. It is easy for me to see people without really seeing them.

But that is not how I want to live. And that is not how I am called to live.

I am called to live in community with the people around me because that is what Jesus did. No matter how they look, how they speak, where they are from or what year they are. Christ commands that we love all without distinction.

As the pastor who was preaching that Sunday so eloquently put it: Sometimes the only thing I have in common with others is that they love Jesus too.

And that should be enough.

As a Christian, I may not always agree with or have everything in common with other Christians.

However, it is my duty to follow Christ and to love those around me.

If you are reading this and you are a Christian, then we are siblings in Christ. We are journeying together. We are headed to the same eternal home. We will all one day spend eternity together, and all those weird quirks that seemed so odd will no longer matter.

We will behold Christ together and worship him together, thanking him not only for saving us as individuals, but for saving us as a family.

So as we begin a new year together, let us actually see one another. Let us listen to one another. Let us care for one another. There are no strangers in Christ.

Let us not lay aside our differences, but rather embrace them. Let us love one another in spite of them. And my prayer is that we may all become more like Christ for doing so, because we are known by our love for one another. That is the only way a lonely, broken world will see the face of the Savior who invites them to belong.

Graf is a feature writer.