Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Victorious Living

Home
Family, Parenting and Religion
Why You Need Community

Why You Need Community

Last updated on: September 7, 2019 at 11:08 pm by Victorious Living

Why You Need Community 2019-09-07T23:08:36-04:00 Victorious Living

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In our modern society, we are becoming more and more agitated with one another. We are quicker to be offended and quick to cast ourselves as victims, even in menial interactions.

We are in a very real danger. A few of them, actually. But the one we want to focus on here is the danger of devaluing community, of losing a true sense of appreciation for what it means to be in community.

The Foundation

I think the deepest fear in any person’s life is the fear of rejection. As such, we have made our communities into pockets of affirmation. We surround ourselves, exclusively, with those who agree with us. Our communities look like us, talk like us, believe like us, and think like us.

Safety is the bedrock of community. And our society is in a crisis of community; so it makes sense we have backtracked to the simplest and most basic need for it.

The problem is that we have diluted our need for security into a crippling fear. We feel attacked if we are disagreed with. We feel violated if someone has a different idea or doesn’t like ours. And so we distance ourselves from these people.

The inevitable end of all this is no community at all. Because we will always disagree with one another at some point. Some ideology or circumstance or idea will come between us. If safety is an idol, these disagreements will drive us apart. If safety is the foundation, our disagreements will build intimacy as we communicate on a stable base.

Forge Character

We need community because it helps forge our character. Community helps us set boundaries for ourselves and experience consequences. Community drives us into System Two. It pushes into the kind of conflict that shapes and grows our ideas and perceptions.

We need community to save us from ourselves. We are so afraid community will destroy us that we neglect the fact that we will be destroyed without community. Life is a delicate balance between hearing and being heard. A bold mix of confidence and humility.

The truth is too big for any one of us to understand and carry alone. We need community to help us see our blind spots, to gaze around the corners of our biases and limitations, and to celebrate and expand the truth of who we are and what we can do together.

Pursue Vision

Perhaps the strongest reason community is important is because we are capable of more together. The whole of a group of humans is always greater than the sum of its parts.

There are beautiful things in this world, incredible aspects of human life, that we cannot achieve alone. We need the intimacy of relationship and the cold truth of accountability.

Humans need lofty visions. And we need each other to achieve them.

Previous Post

May 8, 2019

The Struggle For Consistency

Next Post

May 13, 2019 Change Your Patterns

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Choices Conflict Resolution Culture Change Emotions Failure Faith Fear Freedom V Growth Healthy Communication Hope Identity Influence Leadership Learn Mistakes Mood Curve Ownership Perspective Power Relationships Self-Awareness Self-Governance Systems Thinking Three Things You Control Transformational Leadership Trust Truth Uncategorized Values Vision

Select a Month January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Psalm opens and closes with "Bless the Lord, O my soul"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalm 37 Psalm 22 Psalm 103 Psalm 1

Books by This Author Books by Victorious Living

See All Titles »