thrive community

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the last few decades, you’ve noticed that communication has drastically changed. We are living in the most connected generation in history with access to more people and information than ever before. It’s a global community that everyone wants to be a part of.

From the telegraph, to the telephone, the television, the Apple 1, the cell phone, the fax machine, the ARPA-net, the world-wide-web, the PDA and the iPhone, technological developments have expanded our community from “down the road” to “around the world.” (A special “thank you” to Steve Jobs for the iPhone by the way!) People are offered the opportunity to connect with practically anyone, anywhere, anytime. From grandparents to grade-schoolers, everybody can be “in touch” on any number of levels.

Advancements in technology have not only transformed communication, they have transformed the culture of community. Look at the rise of social networks like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Loopt and the estimated 175,000 blogs created every day (1). People have access to each other twenty-four hours a day by computer, cell phone, Blackberry or iPhone, constantly communicating anything and everything with their “virtual friends” all around the world.  Kip, from Napoleon Dynamite sang it right. We DO love technology.

I believe most people have an even greater desire to connect with God. There is a great need for the culture from within the Christ-following community to allow for more basic levels of connection. Like communication, the fundamental truths that faith is built upon are unchanging, but the methods should always be evolving to allow greater participation for the masses who have yet to connect their lives to them. Since we know accessibility and community are so important to our culture at large, we must increase accessibility for people to participate in some form of Christ-following community so more people can begin experiencing what God is like. This isn’t just important for those who have yet to begin following Jesus but also for those who profess to be following Him and are struggling on their way.

As each generation passes in America, both the number who commit their lives to follow Jesus and those who consistently read the Bible are dramatically decreasing (2). As I stated in my last blog (Opening Up The Bible), I want to help people experience God through reading the Bible in community with others who are connected with Jesus Christ.

As we see in the Bible, Paul’s heart was so consumed with love for people, he was willing to do almost anything, short of sin, to see them won to Christ. He knew it was for their good, God’s glory and his gain (1 Cor. 9:22-23). He loved them, so he became like them. He found a common connection so a deeper relationship could be established. Paul wasn’t trying to use the opportunity as some kind of spiritual excuse to participate in sinful activity with godless men, it was for the love of God that he dove into people’s lives, where few were willing to go. His motivation in identifying with their life and culture was so they could be drawn to Jesus and find life in Him. He was willing to do anything, become anything for anyone so that he could communicate the love of Jesus on a level they could understand.

If we truly care about following Jesus and fulfilling His mission, I believe we must take a fresh look at what we can do as a Christ-following community to create “common ground” so that disconnected hearts can connect with the one who loves them most. Let the transformation begin.

I encourage you to join the conversation. What do you think?