Community

So my wife has a really good post up about community and baggage. You should go read it. And I’m not just saying that because we’re sleeping together. She notes: In my family, and from what my classmates have shared, in a lot of Christian families, we sweep our struggles under the rug. Our pains and hurts are signs of our fallenness, and we just aren't comfortable with that. I have realized that parents get really defensive when you start looking at how they disappointed you or maybe didn't fulfill some valid need that you had. It happens out of their brokenness, their sin, their being human. And you would think in true Christian community things would be different, but they aren't. In fact, I think they may be worse because we're all so damn busy trying to look good for the other Christians and for the rest of the world. I think that’s exactly right. But what is it about us that makes us this way? Is it because we’re insecure people who have this desperate desire to make sure everyone likes us, even if it means they like an us that isn’t us at all? Is it because of the way we have transformed the meaning of church, so that it is no longer a group of people living in community together, but rather a physical building with a steeple and sign, where we worship God and listen to a preacher, then return home to our isolated boxes? Is it because we’re Americans, and live in a culture where individualism is praised and practically anything else is labeled Socialism or Communism? Or is it something else?