This Christ Community, this Relational Movement is distinctive, it is  what enables us here to reflect the movement with in GOD?    I trust in reading you are inspired to discover a Relational Movement, a community to belong to.   As you read this blog, may a shout of yes I see it, yes I long for it, this mirror of how GOD flows and makes the other more important, arise within you.   There is a drawing to find this Community.    Let us ponder on some of our distinctive’s to our world.

A community that is not self focused, one that makes the other person, people the focus of interest.   A people that care, carry each other, that believes in each other this is the community of God.   A Community where politics does not dominate, a place where security is offered and received, where people are established as to who they are.   A community where the young, the old, the mature the immature all find a place irrelevant of experience, language, culture, colour.  Where status is not gathered, where position does not dominate, where people are allowed to be people as an expression of God…what a place, the list goes on and on, dreams of people being free and empowered, responsible and accountable, caring and serving the other.   where the other is the most important.

A community that we would like to call a Christ like community, what makes it distinctive?    I hope you will allow me to offer some ideas, some of which I hope ascend to the level of theological insights.

A Christ like Community occurs when two or more people are conscious of each, make an intentional aware of others while covenanting to arrange lives around Jesus,  making his character their goal, become agents of Christ, the goal of the ‘Fathers will being done’ above his.
A real community probably does not begin to happen until one consciously commits to engage with others who want to make following, growing in, serving Christ the affinity point of their relationship.
This commitment that proceeds the conscious direction of following Jesus is one that has examined for implications, embraced, and pursued as a major priority in one’s life. Its when i have made my advance to be one with Christ and is not easily abandoned any longer.     We ask each other some strange questions some times, i am not sure if its to evaluate or se elif i am in our out?  “When did you get saved”, “when were you born again”, “when did you commit yourself to Jesus?”   We are asking each other when did we cross the line…was it when I was 16 and I first heard of Jesus, or my conversion perhaps was to please a girl, or the one I experienced when I really appreciated what giving up was like.

Jesus did have a model of community in mind that on three different times he did not expand his togetherness, in order to get number of followers.   I wonder why, was it  I’m impressed: Jesus resisted expanding his interior community lest he compromise its growing integrity of togetherness. How he instituted this is something I’d like to know. What does this all mean, its implications for us today that is?

A transformation of thinking is necessary as we have to see the Christ community as a sacred relationship.     It is is not the Lions Club, or save that cause community, neither is it a fan club community and certainly not a Facebook community.
For some of you reading perhaps the word sacred is out of place but its no less true of the Christ community, Bible interpreters and scholars who know far beyond me, read the scripture “When two or three get together in my name, I am in the midst of them.” and see it as sacramental language: the “special presence” of Christ.     In the same way as we invest importance into bread and wine at a communion, by the way this is a community building action, neither am I looking at the relativity of just a few pieces, bread, wine, of the element as the way to model this communion experience here. But as we are encouraged to “do this as often as you gather”, what takes piece of bread and cup of wine? The ‘This’ meaning much more than a service but do the whole thing, eat, celebrate, fellowship, gather, life…    Just as we affirm Christ being with us at the moment, so Jesus is present when his people connect in his name.   Can you perhaps grasp or try and think if the imaging if everyone in the room is thinking that Christ is here, what transformation that would be in our builing and infringe community.

It would change our words our conversation. Our interests in each other and expressed caring would transform and deepen. The celebration and joy would be more evident and be more electric. What would happen to honouring, it certainly would not deprecating, one another becomes a priority.   The moment would be filled with laughter, story-telling, eating, and seeking wisdom.     In my home as a child as in many in South Wales we even placed an empty chair at the table on Sundays while suggesting that it’s reserved for Jesus, for he was joining our table.

Christ community is a oneness expression of God likeness and union.
I have lived my last 40 plus years in the church and been bombarded with the thinking I have to come up to , its been intimidating and often a reason to say its too hard.  Yet we are encouraged to be ‘holy’ be ‘godly’ throughout the scripture. Wow Really!  I live in a world where we don’t find anyone really that is  comfortable with this thought ‘I and godly’, but there is so much truth there?  How many of us know anyone we would describe as godly or holy.   Can any one of us who live a real life really ascend to high holiness or godliness?   Now once having consider that let me perhaps it is meant to be by a group a community…in joint expression.    Each contributing a pice to make up the whole.  Together offering a character of God aspect and reflecting God and together being the body of Christ.   The scripture as so many together, “one another” quotes, so many “put on”, “clothe yourselves with”, perhaps bring together, kaleidoscope all these personal contributions and characters of Christ finding fullness of expression in community.  Compassion, Kindness, generosity, patience…all form many to make one.    Its just can any one person fully fill any of these out?

Enough to consider for now on this community you and I have been brought near to…?