I’ve been thinking about community a lot lately.  I recently finished reading The Shaping of Things to Come by Frost and Hirsch, which talks a lot about developing community to bring people into a relationship with God and followers of Christ.  I’m not talking about community outreach ministries that spend a lot of time developing programs to help bring people into the church – or at least the church building.  I’m talking about living Christ in the community, becoming a part of the community and every day letting your light shine, which will prompt people to worship God (Matthew 5:16). 

I think we’ve started to rely on church as our sole community and as a result we have lost our connection to the lost.  Frost and Hirsch state that when many people become Christians they change so much to fit into the church culture and community that they lose their standing in their former communities – communities that are full of people that need God!  Of course you are going to change when you become a Christian, but I wonder how much of that change is turning away from an ungodly past and how much of the change is adapting to the church culture. 

I guess this ties to something else I’ve been thinking about a lot recently – Why do we feel compelled to be so busy?  In life in general, but specifically in the church.  Our churches are overflowing with programs and activities and get-togethers and whatever.  What happened to having time to rest?  I’m going off on a tangent now, so I’m going to stop this all together.  Maybe I’ll write something more coherent after I think about it some more – maybe not.  In any case, I highly recommend The Shaping of Things to Come.