Day 19: Cultivating community

Although only the Holy Spirit can establish true community (fellowship) among a group
of local believers, He may only do so with the cooperation of the believers – a result of their
decisions, choices, and commitments. To establish community within any local gathering of
believers requires: Honesty, Humility, Courtesy, Confidentiality, Frequency.

Commitment, just like love, is a word when defined by a dictionary has only one
meaning. However, this word tend to be more complicated as we indulge ourselves in it. In fact,
when we commit ourselves, it has something to do with superior materials or beings – like God.
Committing ourselves to God has required a lot of necessity. As what has been mentioned in the
selection, it has required five different words with various roles in it. That is, when we cultivate
our church to the legit characteristics of a real community, that would concern a lot of effort and
energy. Therefore, we should consider all that’s required into account.

On my opinion, there’s no harm in taking the requirements written in the book into
account. What matters most is to make sure that we can execute what we want to execute
accurately. On the other hand, I have come to realize that cultivating a community is not an easy
task. Just like how we usually want to finish a certain task, it requires all of us. Without
committing ourselves in focusing to finish a task, we can finish it- but not satisfyingly. Quite
similar to community, it also requires commitment. Without commitment, we are half-heartedly
doing what we are doing. Therefore, we tend to fail our task, leading to more messy
complications. That is, commitment is really vital.

I do hope that when we help in cultivating our church into community. We are giving the
best of us. Not half-heartedly, but whole heartedly. May everyone continue to commit
themselves to their community, most especially to God.