Community and Congregation

Community and Congregation

 

 

     One of the important things I’ve learned since we’ve moved to Bongalon is the big difference of seeing the church as a community and not only as a congregation.

IN DEFINITION
 CONGREGATION is defined as an “assembly or gathering of people for religious purposes” while COMMUNITY is defined as  “life in association with others” and “any body or group living together.”
Even in it’s definition you can see the difference between the two.  Both words portray the sense of coming together, but only community has the words “life” and “living” in it’s definition.
IN LEADING and PASTORING
There’s also a huge difference in leading or pastoring a congregation and a community.  For example, a congregation disperses  while a community remains.  In a congregation the people gather and then they go home, while in a community…the “community”  is your home.   As a leader you can be detached from a congregation, but in a community you have to attach and immerse yourself in living everyday with the people around you.  You cannot just preach a good sermon, you have to live out the sermon. 
IN BEING PART OF ONE
As a member of a congregation, it’s very easy to pretend and hide.  You can have a messed-up life and come to a congregational church and pretend that you’re okay.  You can fight with your family and when you come to church no one knows about it.  There are also a lot of shallow relationships in a congregational church since you only have to be with that person a few hours a week.
As a member of a community, things are very different.  It’s very hard to hide or pretend.  People see you everyday.  They know your family, they know your friends, and they know your neighbors.  They see the way you act in school, in your home, at work, and in the church.   Sometimes, they don’t even have to ask if you’re okay…because they already know you’re not.
I personally believe that you cannot live out all the teachings of Jesus if you are not a part of a community of believers.  His teachings on sharing possessions, being honest and open, forgiveness and love are mostly based on the context of Christians living together as a community.
  By the way, community doesn’t mean you have to live in the same village or house (although it would be easier).  It’s not limited to geographic location.  It’s how you see your brothers and sisters, it’s how you care and love them.  The church after all, is a community in it’s definition… a “body of people living together” for Jesus.

“Live in harmony with one another.”
Romans 12:16