The pressure of community exists. It causes us to be better or worse. To step out side or to move inside. Whether we talk about the church community or we discuss the actual community we might live in there is a pressure of sorts.

Yesterday I read as a young black rapper opened up on the community of Ferguson. He came down on the side of “what are you doing, what are you thinking”. He chided them for not “policing” their own. With regard to the living condition he said “who is going to take care of if you don’t? If you urinate in the hallway how is that someone else’s fault?” Both rappers Pharrell and BoB were denigrated by their own for their comments and encouragement to take responsibility for their communities.Some of the community is encouraging destruction and mayhem. Some is asking for the rebuild.

I look at the church and I see the ability it is has to grow people. To help them. I have also been on the “destructive” side. I have seen bad things happen in the church. As much as I hate to break it you, the church is people. And not all people are on the same floor of existence, despite equal footing or standing. Not all will choose to employ what is given to them.

And so I come to what I have seen to be the “pressure of community”. That pressure might be good or it might not. I am only going to deal with what I believe to be healthy and good. (I am sure there are many others. Having just watched my Facebook feed explode over the topic of “whether we let homosexuals come to church or not” I am sure there is currently no shortage.)

Healthy is healthy. Healthy community shows the results of being healthy. In the natural it might be manicured lawns and beautiful flowerbeds because people have decided to look good. In the church it may well be the essence or beauty of joy, even when things might not be going all that well. (Folks, things happen. Pasting a smile on everything does not make it a smile. BUT, when the joy of the Lord is present in a people life is better.)

Not everyone can “live” in a healthy community. That is their prerogative. But the church community has a prerequisite to live healthy and be available to those less healthy. (By the way, a believer choosing to not be a part of a church community is not biblical… You can give me all the reasons, all the excuses. I could have implemented them all in my own life and chose not. We are one…)

Healthy does not mean we let abuses, destruction and mayhem happen. It does mean the end game is to affirm and to accept. Love and grace bring health to the top.

Why do I bring this all up? Because I work with unbelieving people and even those who do believe who avoid church and it is community. Some is made up, but a lot of their reasons are real.

Community is important because it gives you a place to grow, to succeed and even to fail. If you do not feel you can make a mistake…wow! Community is not about being perfect or perfection. It is living in relationship with a group of people who employ and implement the word of God by faith in their lives. In that exercise alone, there is a pressure that forms. “If that works for them and God is no respecter of persons.” The very nature of an action like that brings pressure. That is a sign of the body getting healthy. When you have a healthy community you are faced with a choice to allow better or to choose bitter.

True healthy community is not a competition. It is not a race. It is not forced or coerced. It does not denigrate or demean. “Lee. What about correction?” The Bible cites numerous times the method and manner of correction to be implemented in a church body. In context and with full counsel the development of a healthy body emerges. Is there correction? Of course there is! If someone is abusing someone physically, sexually, emotionally or spiritually why would someone not step in?

The coming days will be a challenge to the body of Christ, the church, to step up to the plate. Church…this is your time, this is your season. You have been created for such a time as this. Will it be hard or difficult? I think so. But we are not to be fearful or afraid. We are to be loving, kind and patient. Even when it gets difficult. We do not have to have all the answers or need to fix everything. Not everything is for us. Not every incident ours. Healthy does not mean perfect. It does mean we need to see healthy church as important and move towards that place.

Again, not everyone will fit in. That is their choice. But let them walk away because it is not their style or they are not ready. Not because we have alienated them or rejected them. I often ask myself “would I feel welcome” if I was just walking through the door. If my answer is not yes, why not. What can I do to change that?

Recently, I have had some powerful dreams about change and increase in the church. A friend and I chatted for a moment last night. “Are we ready” was the place we ended up. I think for “us” to be ready “I” need to be ready. I do not feel pressure to perform, but I do feel the “pressure” to see His kingdom come and His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Maybe my use of pressure is better defined as a tension. The tension between heaven and earth. The world and the church. The dead and the living. Urgency is not a part of the kingdom. That alone pits us against much of the world and its systems.

Regardless of the word we use our world is changing and it is changing rapidly. The church at large has a great opportunity to shine. That means every facet, every person will reveal the light of God. That folks, is exciting.