Do you believe that true, radical connection is what you were built for?
It’s true, and if your soul dared whisper NOT ME, your nose may have grown a lovely inch or two like Mr. Pinocchio himself.
Our souls yearn for community. We know there is a people group for us. Yet, too many of us don’t know how to find it…or we’ve given up that it is possible.
Our Wednesday night community group is studying Jennie Allen’s new study entitled
FINDING YOUR PEOPLE, and she is asking us some powerful questions as to why we don’t choose community and instead settle for isolation.
She asked us questions that squished our toes, and today I thought I would share of that awesome uncomfortableness.
So, wiggle those toes and consider it the warmup for the bootcamp coming their way.
Let’s dive into the eight questions that rattled our souls.
· Are you okay to let people drop by your house unannounced? If not, what’s up with that?
· If you’re like me, you may have answered. No
· Wrong answer if we truly want healthy souls. They are not coming to see the dust on your table. They are coming to see you or help you dust.
· Is your life open to having people show up at your home to help you cook or stay late to help you clean up? NO
· Have you chosen to stay in a friendship with someone who hurt you and whom you hurt? Or did you just quit? YES
· Do you have people around you who are living on mission? YES
· Do you have unscheduled and unhurried meet-up times with people who feel like family? NO
· Do you have long conversations with people who have known you for years? MAYBE
· How is the list hitting your soul? If you’re like me, you are probably saying something like this: Is that what true community is all about?
Friends, if this is true community, I think I may be failing.
We don’t think this is possible, yet if we are honest, these are the things our soul craves.
Friends, we belong in someone’s tribe, and they belong in ours. We were made for it.
It is the enemy who has offered us the disruption of community, and we have fallen for it…and we are miserable as a result. Our DNA is built for God and each other.
Charles Spurgeon wrote, “We shall not long have love for man, if we not first and chiefly cultivate love for God.
If things are not fine in these two areas, our souls know it.
Like Jennie profoundly says, “If we will put God in his right place in our hearts, you will more likely put people in theirs.”
WE WERE BUILT TO LIVE ON PURPOSE.
So, let’s look at what keeps us from honoring the value of community: fear, insecurities, busyness, pain, shame, pride, conflict, a surface existence of completeness.
Can you imagine what would happen if each of us chose to take the next right step out of hiding?
We would find freedom. We would find mission. We would find JOY
We would also see how we are more alike than different from each other. We would find support which can become a lifeline when we are walking through hard days, or hellish seasons.
For now, we are launching new summer groups for you to get involved in – visit prize31.com and ask God to nudge your heart for one of the community groups being offered.
He’s Where the Joy begins again this Sunday by popular demand. The Armor of God is relaunching now in July, and this is an off-campus group. The short commitment of effort can be life-changing for your soul health. Click on the link and see where God leads you:
www. Prize31.com/connect
We are going to continue our conversation next week on FINDING YOUR PEOPLE and cover the topic of FINDING YOUR WRONG PEOPLE.
