Creating Community

    In the book “Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time,” Alan Roxburgh describes how the church can reconnect with the community and discover ways that God is already at work.  While there are sociological population trends such as people having fewer children, marrying less frequently and getting married later in life, there are also geographic population shifts in terms of where people are living and the length of time they may live in a particular area.  There are also trends and shifts that characterize churches—some churches have observed that the average age of the is increasing and the distance that members travel to reach the church is also increasing.  The epistle of Titus is a relatively short book of the Bible that describes the interactions of the missionary, Titus, with the people living in Crete.  

    Paul sends Titus to Crete begin building a Christian community.  The book of Titus outlines some of the ways that the Christian community is formed by being both engaged in the community, yet remaining somewhat separate from the community.  Because the people of Crete have been raised in the Greek culture that venerates the god, Zeus, some unfortunately, learn about Christian theology by comparing Zeus to God, the father of Jesus.  Some Cretans assume that Zeus is similar to our God.   However, rather than avoiding contact and conversation with the people of Crete, Titus is encouraged to spend more time with them.   By spending time with the people of Crete, they are able to observe some of the uniqueness’s of God through the ways that the Christian people treat each other.  

    Our ongoing discipleship study using the book “Practicing the Way” encourages us to reflect on the ways that we can develop habits of engagement with the neighborhood around the church.  We can also consider how we shape, and are shaped by, these interactions with others.  These interactions become intentional habits that allow us to experience the joy of God as we become more familiar with each other.  We’ll look forward to “seeing” you in the zoom class Thursday evening and in worship Sunday morning.  

In Christ, 
Jon McCoy