EXPLORE
YOUR FAITH
Is
it necessary to be a part of a religious community in order
to fully experience a relationship with God?
The
key word in the question is "fully." We can experience
a relationship with God on our own. In fact, it is often
such an experience that prompts us to seek out a religious
community. I believe, however, that the full experience
of God is gained socially. Since I believe the essence
of God is love, it's tough to love by yourself. The sort
of love that comes from God grows as it is shared, making the
experience fuller with every additional person we share
it.
Also, I
believe our human relationships, when healthy, are designed to be a means
of experiencing God. Part of the point of Jesus, I think,
is that human beings get to know God incarnationally...in human flesh. I
know something of God's providence because I have experienced parents
who provided for me. I know something of divine friendship because my
friend, Celeste, loves me even when I am a jerk. I know something of
God's grace because people have been willing to forgive me. The downside
of this, of course, is that when we have unhealthy and disordered relationships,
our relationship with God also suffers...making our choice of religious community
one that deserves our utmost attention. If we choose a destructive community,
spiritual damage can be done.
Lastly, the religious community is...at its best...an accountable community
that can help me keep on the right road. In a healthy religious community,
I am encouraged to share how I am growing in my faith and what I believe God
is calling me to do. If I wake up one morning convinced that God has
told me to mow down my neighbors with an automatic weapon, a healthy Christian
community can perhaps remind me about the sixth commandment and suggest my
faith antennae need a bit of adjusting. Not that the community is foolproof,
but it's better than no checks and balances at all. In community I can
grow faster and stronger because we are helping one another along the way.
--Anne
Robertson
It's
obviously possible to be a solitary Christian. People who have
lived years in solitary confinement have done it. There's a tradition
of the hermit monk, and so forth. But the normal pattern of Christian
life, or of Jewish life for that matter, is life within community.
In a highly individualistic nation like the United States, it's
important to stress the significance of religious community.
I find religious community to be profoundly nourishing. I even
find such a solitary practice as contemplative prayer to be more
powerful for me with a group of people doing silent prayer together.
I don't have an explanation for that, but I know from my experience
that it's true.
Being
part of a community also makes one part of a tradition, and tradition
for me is a very good word. Tradition is the wisdom of the past,
the beauty of the past. Tradition is flawed, of course, like
all human products are. But to
separate oneself from community and tradition on one's spiritual
journey is like turning one's back on a banquet right in front
of you, and deciding to go out and forage for food by yourself. Community
is the normative pattern of the spiritual life.
--Dr.
Marcus Borg
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