We are all part of the community of faith. We are all a part of God’s family. We cannot be part of something and live apart from it. We recognize that the community is not perfect. Sometimes imperfection is called hypocrisy; it is not. This conclusion is used to rationalize a view that a Christian does not need to be a part of the community for one can find God in nature, but what kind of nature?
Frederick Buechner reminds us of the limitations of this view. “Unfortunately, Adam and Eve took nature with them when they fell. You’ve only to look at the sea in a November gale. You’ve only to consider the staggering indifference of disease, or the field at Anthidium, or a cook boiling a lobster, or the statistics on child abuse. You’ve only to remember your own darkest dreams.”
In contrast, Dr. Andrew Weil, points out that being a Christian means accepting life in a community of faith. There are not only spiritual benefits, but psychological ones as well. “Human beings are highly social, communal animals. We are meant to live in families, tribes and communities, and when we lack those connections, we suffer. Yet many people pride themselves on their independence and habitually distance themselves from others. Some may indulge in isolation as a defensive strategy — possibly developed in reaction to painful emotional experiences. Others may never have learned how to connect meaningfully to anyone or anything beyond themselves.”
We can learn to connect meaningfully. It is a risk that is taken because the results are far more valuable than what may be had in the moment. Consider this, Can one be a Christian without a community? The answer is obvious.
Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark: An ABC Theologized (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), 85.
Andrew Weil, M.D., “Connectedness Is Vital to Your Well-Being,” Going Bonkers?, December 1997.