Discovering Community in our Present Crisis

Written by Vince Oliveri

This might be an odd time to write about community. Most of the world is quarantined and isolated in our homes in an effort to slow a growing pandemic. Along with facing the more dire threats to our lives and livelihoods, we might also be facing the growing angst and loneliness that come with the loss of normal relationships and social rhythms. 

Perhaps, in this time of social distancing and shelter-in-place, we feel more acutely that God has made us as social creatures, designed to flourish within meaningful relationships. And perhaps, more than ever, we need to remember that the community of the church is central to God’s heart. God is not merely in the business of rescuing individual people in Christ. Rather, God is ultimately in the business of reconciling and restoring a lost, broken, and diverse people—the very people of God—into one body, one family, one company of the gospel called the Church. 

So, I want to offer a few words of encouragement about community, drawn from a snapshot of the first church in Acts 2. In this season of social distancing and longing for community, I believe local churches can follow the example of the first gathered New Testament church and find abundant shared life as they commit to postures of awe, fellowship, and service.

A Community in Awe of God (Acts 2:42–43)

As churches who are scattered rather than gathered, we can remember it is the gospel that unites us—we are made one through the life-saving work of Christ and life-giving work of the Spirit. Churches today, like the first church we encounter in Acts, are communities of people who have been cut to the heart by the gospel and have come to believe in and belong to Christ and his people. As the gospel changes our hearts, we devote ourselves as a community to the Word, to worship, and to prayer. And in this new community, we discover a new posture toward God—awe. This was the Godward posture of the first New Testament church: “awe came upon every soul” (Acts 2:43).

As we sit in our own homes, participating in church services while listening, singing, and praying through the screens of our computers, tablets, and phones, we can still be communities of one heart, drawn together by the gospel, sharing a common awe at the greatness and goodness of God toward us in Christ. This global crisis presents us with the opportunity to renew or develop new rhythms of worship and devotion together in this season of separation.

A Community in Fellowship with One Another (Acts 2:44–46)

As church communities who love God, we grow in our love for one another, even when we aren’t together face to face. Our posture of awe toward God shapes our posture of fellowship with one another. The church in Acts was so devoted to God that they delighted in one another through Christ. They “devoted themselves to the fellowship” and “were together and had all things in common,” (vv. 42, 44). They so loved one another that they daily attended the temple together and broke bread in their homes together with glad and generous hearts (v. 46). Doesn’t that sound wonderful right about now?

While we can’t gather together as the church or have others over for dinner like we desire to, we can still experience fellowship with one another. Whether you have suspended many of your normal rhythms of fellowship or perhaps you haven’t really experienced meaningful community in a long time, I want to encourage you to take this season as a unique opportunity to press into creative expressions of fellowship. My community group through our church, like so many other communities, has taken this time to start meeting together over Zoom calls. Almost counterintuitively, this might be the easiest time to jump into Christian community. Through a simple video call, you can see each other’s faces and hear each other’s voices, still wear your comfiest sweatpants on your own couch, eat some ice cream, discuss a Psalm, share and laugh and cry about how you are trying to cope with this season, and pray. 

A Community in Service to Our Neighbors (Acts 2:45–47)

In addition to a posture of awe and fellowship, the first church in Acts had a posture of service toward others. They had open hands and open homes, generously giving to the needy and hospitably welcoming others into their homes. Their generous, hospitable community was a visible witness to the gospel, which God used to draw many lives to himself and his church.

In this season, though we must wisely prioritize safety and distance, we can also be in service and mission to those around us. We can pick up groceries for our needy neighbors and drop them off on their porch, we can call and listen to our friends who might be suffering from loneliness and anxiety, we can give financially to our churches and ministries that are serving the poor and struggling, and we can pray for our neighbors.

While our present forms of community might seem like shadows of the shared life we miss, take heart: this light momentary separation is preparing for us the glory of one day sharing life face to face again. Even more, this season of distance is better training our longing hearts for the next world where we will be with Him face to face.