Community Thoughts

I had a bit of a revelation tonight that I need to jot down in order for my thoughts to make any sense.

Jeff and I love our church, it's a great church.  We never thought we would find a place where people simply strive to live according to the Bible, to love God and one another above all other things.  We've learned a lot there, met great people, we've been taken care of and encouraged.  We've learned what it means to live in community with one another and to make that an important priority in our lives.

Tonight we were discussing the next group of "leavers" that would be graduating and moving onto bigger and better things.  We were frustrated.  Our church really pushes community - that God called us to live in unity with one another, to share everything we have and take care of one another.  We simply can't do life alone.  And I believe that 100%.

So why do people keep leaving?  Don't they get it?!  The world says you go to college, graduate, then move away to get a "real" job.  We say the world doesn't know what they are talking about and sometimes being in community is more important than any job.  So we get frustrated.

Whenever someones tells me they are leaving, I tend to have a typical tone that sounds something like, "oh...well...I'm not happy you're going but I'll try to be supportive."  It's upsetting that they think they have to move on to new places rather than staying here and living life with us, even if it means they work at a coffee shop for the rest of their life!

Then it occurred to me that maybe I'm wrong.

I started to think about an organization called Team Expansion.  They're located in Kentucky and their purpose is to send people off to plant new churches.  Their process begins when people feel called to become a part of this group of believers and they move to Kentucky to spend 1-2 years preparing for their mission.  Of course there has to be someone there to train them - that is what the people who have been called to live and stay in Kentucky do.  These soon-to-be missionaries come in, they learn, they grow, they do life with the people in Kentucky and become equipped with the necessary skills to go plant churches elsewhere.

How ridiculous would it be if the people who live in Kentucky got upset every time someone left?!  I mean that IS their mission - to raise people up, train them in the ways they need to go, and send them out.  If they were to be upset with those people who now were leaving, I would say they have a problem!

Is this any different from what we do here in College Station, Texas?  Jeff and I felt called to come here and minister to college students.  College students are the ones in that "trainee" phase of life, being taught and shaped so God can take them and use them in many different areas.  Yet we're upset and confused when people don't stay in town.  The more I think about it, the more it really doesn't make sense!

If we would allow ourselves to see God's bigger plan, we would see our role in it as Equippers and Moblizers for greater things than we can imagine.

As we teach people what is looks like to earnestly seek God's direction, I also need to be open to the path God has for them.  Some will feel called to stay - we need them so God will provide them.  Some will feel called to go - the world needs them so God is trusting us to send them out.

The message that I need to be sending to those we encounter is:  over the next few years, make your future a focal point in prayer.  Don't adhere to the world's standard of - go to college, graduate, get a job.  Prayerfully consider what God is calling you to do.  Then work towards it, seek counsel, knowledge, experience, and learn to live in community.  Equip yourselves to do it well.

Why am I missing this and becoming angry when people decide to go elsewhere?  Am I being selfish - too focused on the pain of people leaving and not focused on a greater plan?  Am I being prideful because I think it's great here and others should see that too?  Am I simply just too busy and too tired to invest this kind of focused training?  It's not like it's a one time thing, people are coming in all the time, every year.

In all this, I believe what the Spirit is laying on my heart is that my vision needs to be teaching, equipping, and sending people out with the knowledge of what community looks like so they can create it in new places.  God will provide those to stay that are needed, we'll always have everything we need.  It's never going to get easier, watching those you love leave is dreadful - but do I wallow in my sadness or do I rejoice in what God has planned?

I'm curious to see what this means for us as a couple.  God's been working hard on the hearts of the people in our body - doing big things, changing things, breaking things.  It's been rough.  So maybe this is one area I need to let go of for the sake of following Jesus.