thrive community

I’m a nostalgic person at heart. I hold on to things and enjoy recalling the stories that go with them, especially things that center around experiences I’ve had with people. They represent a connection that has seemed to bind us together on a deeper level. It’s the creation of stories and having people who know your stories. 

Everybody wants to be known, to feel included and to be connected. Take FaceBook and Twitter for example. These social networks were created out of an incredible need that people have to know people and be known by others, even on the most trivial of levels. People share who they are, give updates on what they are currently doing, share photos, join affinity groups and discover new people to be connected with. FaceBook has an estimated two hundred million users while the newly established Twitter has attracted over fourteen million users in the U.S. alone and is rapidly growing.

Knowing someone goes beyond the cognitive and the informative to the intimate and the spiritual. It’s a divine experience that comes from engaging our heart with another human being. But offering insights ABOUT you is different than offering experiences WITH you. It’s how we move from the fictional person we want others to think we are to the person we are in reality. It’s where “knowing” genuinely happens.

Knowing and being known emerges out of experiencing life together but it won’t happen if we won’t be ourselves. We all have baggage, quirks, have committed terrible sins, have tons of faults and will grace everyone else in regards to these issues but not ourselves. So, how about let’s stop being lousy perfectionists and allow ourselves to be a broken human being on the road to wholeness? From the way we do life together with our family, friends, co-workers and even with our church, we won’t get to experience the true pleasure of being known if we fake our way through.

Being known reflects God’s acceptance of us and gives us a sense of belonging. It brings authenticity and freedom to our lives. We don’t have to pretend to be something that we’re not because our friends know who we really are. It offers accountability for how we respond to life. It presents stability and rest to our soul. It delivers a deeper satisfaction and joy to life, where emotion is experienced at a deeper level. Knowing emerges when we press into relationship with others without expectation or alterior motive but to know them. 

God wants us to know him, too. Jesus stated that true, lasting quality of life comes from knowing Him (John 17:3). So, knowing is a two way relationship. In knowing more about who God IS, we discover more about who we are NOT. We come to know more about ourselves as we discover more about God and other people. It sets us free to be real because we are known by God in every way and He still loves us and is totally stoked about us in spite of it all!

It’s an amazing journey. What’s your next step?

What do you think?