Making the world real

(2 new updates on my other site).

I have been missing the community of FGBC (Full Gospel Bible College). While I was journaling recently, I wrote something along the lines that "my time within the community of FGBC has been the closest I have come to experiencing perfect community." It is NOT perfect community, but it is the closest I have come to experiencing it. I know of at least one group of individuals who reached even closer to this idea of perfect community, and I am excited.

While I have been thinking about this (and after watching the Saturday night 2006 Grad DVD), I have been reminded of the words/thoughts of 2 people. One is Brian Tysdal who does not like the conclusion that FGBC is a bubble (as in keeping people apart from "the real world"). He turns things around by asking, "What if FGBC is closer to being the real world?" If I remember correctly, he backed this up by saying that God is the only one who sees how things really are, so when we are living for Him and He is showing us certain things through His eyes, then we are able to live in the real world. The other person I am reminded of is Kaleena who wrote a post on August 20, 2003 that begins with the quote, "Welcome to the real world." I read that post exactly 3 years ago and what she wrote has stuck with me ever since.

I do not believe that we will ever have perfect community until the second coming of Christ when sin is no more, but I do believe that we can and need to strive for that perfection. Show me a community who is striving to love one another, forgive one another, be honest (and vulnerable) with one another, teach one another, learn from one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, challenge one another, support one another, provide for one another, and who actively desires this for others; show me this community and I will show you a community of transformation.

Being a missionary, whether overseas or in your own home, is important. I struggle with being a missionary (even when it involves nothing more than being present and being myself), but I try. My heart is for all people, but I have a strong desire towards the Church. I want to see the Church become the community described above. I have heard testimonies of people who came to know Christ by spending time with what seems to have become a rare Christian who was striving to become like Christ. I have also heard testimonies of people who have left and/or stayed away from church (the Church) - both the building and the people - because they have been hurt by the Church.

I have been to numerous churches in my life, and while there are some things I do not like that seem to have infected the Church, I have no desire to stop "attending church". Perhaps it is because I am away from the "taste of perfection" I had at FGBC, but I desire to get involved in my new home church, and work towards "disinfecting" the Church by bringing a "new" perspective on Church and community by building relationships with people and letting them see Christ in me. As I get to know them and Christ in them, I too will be striving towards perfection within the community.

As the Church strives towards perfection, we will have a positive impact in this world. As we learn to see the world, as it really is, through God's eyes, and as we impact the world based on this sight, we will be working towards making the world real. ("Heaven on earth" anybody?).