Pursuing Reconciled Community
Several weeks ago I heard a sermon about Christian community--and the pastor brought up a point that at other times has been at the forefront of my mind, but in this current time when kindred spirits are hard to come by, I seemed to have forgotten it. The strength of the early church was how different people came together--slaves and free persons, women and men, rich and poor, powerful and powerless--all of them could come together as a community because Jesus had broken down the dividing wall of hostility. (Not that it always was easy and successful, see the various chastisements from Paul...)
But I thought about how I have preferences for the type of people I like to be around; for the type of people I want to be in my inner circle of friends. And though I don't necessarily discriminate on the basis of race/gender/status, there are certain types of people I don't really spend time with. For example, all of my close friends are college educated. The majority of them have or are pursuing graduate degrees. All of my working friends work pretty high level desk jobs. And part of this is just the nature of where I spend my time, and the people I meet there. But it's also because I enjoy conversation and the company of educated people, and we tend to have more in common and an easier time getting along. (Yes, I equally enjoy the company of people with cognitive disabilities...but it's all those people in between the two extremes that I have more of a problem relating to...)
But how does that represent the reconciling power of Jesus in my life and relationships? How does it exemplify how Jesus draws people from different backgrounds, lifestyles, statuses, etc. together to stand in contrast to a world where people are stratified by socio-economic or cultural status? It doesn't.
So is it important for us as Christians to try and pursue community with people very different from us in life? Or should we just go along living life, and be open to the people God brings to us? Or something else? I'm still thinking about this.
But I thought about how I have preferences for the type of people I like to be around; for the type of people I want to be in my inner circle of friends. And though I don't necessarily discriminate on the basis of race/gender/status, there are certain types of people I don't really spend time with. For example, all of my close friends are college educated. The majority of them have or are pursuing graduate degrees. All of my working friends work pretty high level desk jobs. And part of this is just the nature of where I spend my time, and the people I meet there. But it's also because I enjoy conversation and the company of educated people, and we tend to have more in common and an easier time getting along. (Yes, I equally enjoy the company of people with cognitive disabilities...but it's all those people in between the two extremes that I have more of a problem relating to...)
But how does that represent the reconciling power of Jesus in my life and relationships? How does it exemplify how Jesus draws people from different backgrounds, lifestyles, statuses, etc. together to stand in contrast to a world where people are stratified by socio-economic or cultural status? It doesn't.
So is it important for us as Christians to try and pursue community with people very different from us in life? Or should we just go along living life, and be open to the people God brings to us? Or something else? I'm still thinking about this.
posted by bethany at 7:17 PM
4 Comments:
Thank you for stopping by my blog. The question is more whether we need to go out of our way to *find* people very different from us, or whether we just go with the flow of life and continue to be open and loving to the people God brings us. It's not a question of *whether* I will love people, it's a question of how much effort I need to put forth to make friends at different places in life (because in graduate school, chances are, you meet other graduate students). See what I mean?
i couldn't help but smile when you pointed out that you get along well with the highly educated and those with cognitive disabilities, just not those in between. why do you think this is? perhaps its because (for some reason) you can be yourself more with either extreme than you can with those in the middle.
more generally, one reason why we don't like to spend time w/ some groups of people seems to be that we don't feel ourselves around them -their context of conversation and action leaves us feeling out-of-joint or confined. on the one hand, maybe that's the benefit of being with other people, precisely that we are drawn out of ourselves, that we aren't just ourselves but become something new. on the other hand, there is a bad way of this happening, wherein you become less, not more, than you'd really like to be. i think sometimes i avoid some (types of) people out of the fear of the later situation, and i'm not sure that's all bad.
its funny, isn't it, how sometimes an odd group of people come together and it just works great, like there is some magic to it, if only for an evening? and yet other times there is so much trudging along.
Jesus dealt with people as individuals. We as Christians are to be like Christ in every way. So, deal with people on an individual basis. Jesus didn't stereotype or group. He dealt with the Samaritan woman at the well in a way that fit her own circumstnces and worldview. He dealt with the rich, young ruler in a totally differeent way since his station in life was different. Jesus was able to relate to these people and help them to think about who they wanted and needed to be by seeing them the way they truly were. In order to do that, you have to listen carefully and subtly lead by example in your own walk.
Oooh! I just remembered, Nicodemus. Jesus taught Nic about the importance of baptism for salvation and presented it to him in a symbolic and intellectual way. Perfect conversation for a man of deep religious training and background. Jesus would not have presented baptism in such a way to someone who wasn't as educated or well-versed in religious sensibilities.
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