Community!

Society is changing and so is community, as committed involvement and service by individuals within social clubs as well as religious communities continues to suffer, falling down and even off many people’s priority lists. Unfortunately, congregational community is a non-negotiable according to the Scriptures and is one of those spiritual disciplines essential for the life of a follower of Messiah Yeshua. Several years ago I wrote a discipleship series called “The Seven Spiritual Habits of a Maturing Messianic Jewish Faith.” The material covers basic spiritual disciplines which must be practiced in order for a follower of Messiah Yeshua to grow in their personal relationship with God. Two of these disciplines relate to involvement with other believers within a community.

The first one is Congregational Integration. Just showing up for services and studies is insufficient for spiritual maturity. We must be committed to our community: its purpose, programs and people. Having only a superficial connection to a congregation will never allow someone to become a unified and useful part of the community; we will not be able to be raised up to areas of service, responsibility and leadership. Remember that God calls us to be actively connected to our congregations so we can be fully useful for service!

The second is Commitment to Service. An integrated member of a congregation is a committed servant within that congregation. This happens naturally in the life of a spiritually maturing believer who recognizes their spiritual responsibility to serve. The list of service opportunities within a congregation is never ending, especially if a congregation is committed to reaching out to those who are not yet followers of the Messiah. Remember that God expects us to serve him first and foremost through committed service within and through our congregational community!

Over time we can get discouraged through the “back and forth” of being in community, being actively involved with one another. Taking a break from responsibility from time to time is healthy and wise; stepping back from being active in community is not. As our Messiah taught, “Love one another.” Let’s remember that the love Messiah Yeshua spoke us is best developed when we practice it with real people within his Messianic community. Our Devar Emet membership expectations challenge us to realize that the growth and development of our community is our shared responsibility. As our Membership Expectations remind us, members commit themselves to being willing to adjust their own schedules to give priority to meeting together as a community, commit to seeking to identify, develop, and use their spiritual gifts and abilities to intentionally serve and, as appropriate, even lead within the community. But most importantly, they commit themselves as members to develop a spirit of mutual love, unity, forgiveness, concern, encouragement, and the bearing of one another's burdens within our congregation. This is what commitment to community is all about!

Let us consider what we each can do to facilitate and encourage greater community within our own communities of faith. This will require some sacrifice, mostly our time, talent and treasure, but certainly that is the least we can do to follow the way that our Messiah Yeshua has asked us to walk. Consider in what ways G-d would want you to sacrificially build on the foundation that has been laid within your community, not just for your own benefit, but for the benefit of others! In this new year of 5778 let us each consider what we can do to allow G-d to work more effectively through us in order that G-d will be able to more effective work through His Messianic community.

Forward for Messiah!

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi  & Director