Personal #3 - Community

Another interesting thought that this class has sparked in me is how this course applies to the idea of 'community.' Buber writes that true community doesn’t come into being because people have feelings for each other but for two reasons: All of them stand in a living, reciprocal relationship to a living center and they have to stand in a living, reciprocal relationship with each other. This thought was very interesting to me. In the context of Christian community, it is crucial to be truly centered around Christ. It is also crucial to be living in real, authentic relation with one another. As a selfish and sinful human, community is hard for me. It is hard to orient myself on Christ. It is even harder to orient myself around others. But, despite our sinfulness, community is able to come to fruition because of Christ. Because of the deposit of the Holy Spirit, us sinful humans are able to partake in holy communion with God and in turn, authentic fellowship with one another. We are empowered to live out an Acts 2:42 community.

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