Our Need for a Gospel-Centered Community
If you read the title, maybe you’re asking yourself “what’s a Gospel-centered community?” (or maybe not). Well, I’m going to get to that. But first, I’ll tell you a little about what life was like for me before coming to university, just to give some context.
I grew up in a really small church, with most people being older than me (I was actually the youngest for a long time). I didn’t have much of a community or select people to journey with in my walk of faith. Or, perhaps it was more because I didn’t want to be a part of that kind of community when it came to being vulnerable. Friends from school were more fun to hang out with, more fun to talk with, and I felt like I could only be completely honest with them. After all, I’m not afraid of their judgement because, well, they sin just as much as I do (maybe even more, was what I thought back then) and they don’t seem to care. So why should I care about my own sins? I was afraid to be vulnerable in the church about my sins because I didn’t want to confront my sin. Thus, I couldn’t tell anyone about my sins and struggles, which only resulted in constant cycles of self-hatred, self-criticism, and self-reliance. My walk with God wasn’t non-existent, but it was definitely individual.
Why might an individual walk be dangerous? Again, I’ll get to that in a bit.
So, I entered my first year of university in September 2021 with that same mindset: I can’t tell other Christians about my sins or I’ll be judged. I lived in REV in my first year (tough times honestly) and I was faced with many people and situations I have never encountered before (I’m sure I lived a really sheltered life prior). My floormates were always, if not participating, then talking about partying, drinking, doing drugs, and having sex. Whenever I went to them, I was never able to find the kind of community I longed for — one that is vulnerable with one another, fosters deep relationships, and encourages each another to grow. In other words, my relationships with them felt shallow. Now, I’m not saying that true and strong connections with unbelievers cannot exist, but just that in my case, I knew something didn’t feel right. From the beginning, I didn’t feel as much joy with them as I did with other believers. I knew that was God calling me back to His community.
Come winter term, I decided to join a DG (Discipleship Group; basically a smaller group of same-gendered people for closer fellowship. Read Sam’s reflection for more!). This was probably the best decision I made that term. In our first meetings as a DG, we all shared our testimony. Before this, whenever I was asked to share my testimony, I would share a shallow version that doesn’t truly represent who I was or my relationship with God. But in the weeks and even months leading up to it, I could hear God calling me to be vulnerable and open with them. It took so much courage and it wasn’t any less scary, but I decided to share every part — even the deepest sins and struggles that I have never shared before. This was probably the second best decision I made that term.
While it was scary, I could see that this kind of vulnerability allowed for a deeper relationship that’s based on accountability and trust to form. This step I took made me realize that there is no need for fear when sharing my sins. I realized that sharing these sins and my testimony isn’t for me or my reputation in any way. It is to display God’s glory, God’s honour, and God’s power. That, despite all my sins I thought were so “unsaveable”, God is greater than all of them and His love for us all is so unfathomable, expansive, and unconditional, that it’s almost overwhelming. Therefore, why should I fear other people’s judgement when glorifying God is all that matters?
A month or so later, winter term retreat rolls around. For year sharing, I think my year generally wanted to have a much more intimate and personal sharing time (fall term didn’t work out as well…). Like with my DG, I felt this calling to share my whole testimony with these friends. And just because I have shared it once before didn’t make it any easier — it was just as scary and just as hard, but I had courage, knowing that my testimony glorifies God alone. This time, I learned another thing about being vulnerable and open with my community. God actually can use me and my testimony to witness to and encourage others. Because I allowed God to speak through me, I could encourage others that our sins hold no power over us and we shouldn’t let them hold power over us. Although God is a just God and the wages of our sin is death, we have already been saved by His grace, for His love for us is greater. There is no need to fear our sin or fear His wrath — all we need is to turn to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour by faith and faith alone.
So, I’ve said so much so far, yet still no talk about whatever I mean by a “Gospel-centered community”. Don’t go — I’ll tell you now.
By “Gospel-centered community”, what I really mean is a community that loves God, longs to follow God, works to encourage others to do the same, and endeavours to spread the Good News of Jesus to everyone else. This is what I have witnessed UWCCF to be. While I’m by no means perfect in my walk with God now after first year, this Gospel-centered community I’ve had the blessing to be in grew me to become a better follower of Christ. I have others in this community who keep me accountable (whether that be doing devos or turning away from sin and temptations). I have others who gently rebuke me when I am not following God’s commands (when I am not loving others the way I should be). I have others who remind me that the only and the eternal solution to my struggles is not myself, but God alone.
During this summer, I attended my home church’s university fellowship where we talked about a Gospel-centered community. Our first session explained the concept in a way I never really thought about before:
“We sometimes treat community like the safety net under a tightrope walker: it’s a good thing to have in case something bad happens. But the Bible talks about community as if it’s the tightrope itself: you can’t move forward without it” (“The Gospel-Centered Community”, Robert H. Thune and Will Walker)
We all need community so we can grow in our own faith journey. I’ve heard of a race being used as an analogy for the faith journey before, but I think it’s also more like a team race in a way. We are all individually running this race to the finish, but we encourage each other along the way to keep going. Without this community, we could be racing down the wrong path without ever knowing. We won’t have others to correct us when we are not following God and we won’t have others to love us when we are low.
So if I had any advice at all from my first year, it would be this: seek this Gospel-centered community. And not only seek, but participate in it. If you’re not in such a community, I urge you to go find one and begin journeying with these amazing brothers and sisters (UWCCF is a great one to try). If you are in such a community, I hope you’re making the most of it by actively growing with them and spreading all the joys you have been blessed with through it. We grow and are sanctified when we’re in community. We serve one another when we’re in community. And all this serves to witness to others about the Good News of Jesus Christ, for the furthering of His glory and His kingdom.
