Hallmarks of a healthy biblical community
As believers, it’s important to align our priorities with God’s and ask ourselves big-picture questions like these:
What did Jesus focus on every day? And what is His #1 mission for us? He gave us the answer in Matthew 28:
“Jesus came and spoke to them, saying… ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.’”
This passage makes it clear: Jesus prioritized His relationships and sharing God’s Kingdom with people! He met often with His Father to pray (His primary relationship), then ministered with a core group of disciples to teach them and touch people’s lives everywhere He went.
There’s no denying it: Jesus was highly relational.
Community wasn’t part of Jesus’ life—it was central to it. His entire earthly mission was to reconcile us to our heavenly Father, teach and demonstrate God’s kingdom to people, and break the enemy’s power over us on earth. Everything He did in His ministry was for the good of other people and involved investing in them.
Christians aren’t meant to be lone rangers
To be like Jesus, we must make time with God and fellow believers a top priority in our lives… not chasing success, having fun, building a platform, or other temporary things.
Our former Texas pastor shared often that isolated Christianity was not biblical at all. New Testament faith is one invested deeply in community—so to dismiss time with other Christians, avoid church/connect groups, and live on our terms is simply not the way Jesus demonstrated serving God. It isn’t healthy and makes our faith centered on us instead of the very vital outreach integral to Gospel living.
“Let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” —Hebrews 10
Jesus did ministry often (and extravagantly!) without burning out. This amazes me! He modeled for us healthy community life and ministry—one including regular refreshment and “filling up” and one surrounded by other faithful ministers who helped Him fulfill His work on earth. Out of His 12 core disciples, only Judas was lost. The rest went on to set the world on fire with the Gospel, write the New Testament, and suffer or even die for their faith! Jesus created a strong, sustainable community of on-fire believers who spread from His region to impact the world… and it continues to grow to this day! Pretty incredible huh?
What wisdom can we glean from His life on cultivating HEALTHY, impactful communities wherever God places us? Here are some ideas.
How to create a thriving, passionate, active, God-centered community:
Leaders and members put God first.
We can’t escape this fact: Jesus stole away often to commune with His Father, waking up before dawn and losing nights of sleep to go to the mountains, gardens, or even on boats to be with God (and all the men said amen!) :) He regularly spent hours in prayer and only did/said what He saw His Father doing—so He was deeply connected with God. There’s no doubt about it: Healthy communities have a central focus on our Heavenly Father above all else!
Everyone is welcome, but the whole Gospel is presented (& not watered down).
Scripture is upheld among members as the standard of living. The gates are wide-open to all people, and the invitation is for everyone. In time, people will hear God’s truth and decide whether they’ll submit their lives to it or not. Jesus welcomed everyone who had an open heart to change and turn to Him!
Yet nowhere in Scripture did He or His apostles encourage or enable sin. Instead, they lovingly challenged ungodly lifestyles that separated people from their heavenly Father, and they cultivated a true reverence for God and His Word. This is true, godly leadership.
Members serve each other respectfully, and everyone’s needs matter.
Healthy, genuine, godly community comes at a cost. Those involved commit to helping others and defer to each other—not lording their role over others but using their position to help people under their care. As Jesus said, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9).
While it’s impossible to accommodate everyone, throughout Jesus’s ministry we see mutual caring for every member, especially with the weak. If one person hurt, everyone hurt and worked to remedy that. If one cheered, they all cheered. They were one body of believers, just as we are today, and they acted like one.
Unhealthy communities, in contrast, have one (or a few) dominant individuals ruling the group in a self-serving manner. This isn’t biblical community or leadership. If we long to be part of New Testament Christianity, we must at times sacrifice our needs or wants to ensure the weakest or neediest among us are cared for.
Love is present.
A godly community has love permeating it. Love—which God defined Himself—is patient, kind, not envious, proud, rude, self-seeking, record-keeping, and more.
Look at the fruit of the Christian communities you’re in. Seek to be a loving addition to yours and reconsider your involvement in those that are not bearing good fruit!
Individual spiritual gifts are encouraged and honored.
Living in community requires that people’s unique gifts and personalities are respected! Not everyone will be like us, and vice versa, and God intended it that way so we round out each other’s weak spots. This means no small few dominate the rest or try to mold everyone into their image. “Groupthink” is discouraged and people’s gifts are valued, given room to be expressed, and flourish.
Accountability and (occasional) conflict are embraced as part of true community!
Matthew 18 tells us to go to a fellow believer when there is an issue or sin that needs confrontation. We certainly don’t need to do this for every little issue we see or offense that we can handle internally, but for big, hard-to-forgive issues or those with great destructive potential, a “Come to Jesus” talk may be necessary. (Remember when Jesus rebuked Peter and said “Get behind me, Satan!”? Or when Paul had various confrontations with fellow Apostles?)
Members understand that we are our brother’s keeper, so addressing active and unrepented sin in each other’s lives is what a loving brother does. How can we grow unless someone tells us where we’re missing the mark?
What one part does affects the rest of the body, so issues must be handled efficiently and with discretion and care. God calls us to this level of closeness in His church, which is pretty radical for our individualistic/isolated culture. But true biblical community should exemplify this kind of personal investment so that every member can grow and mature where needed!