The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars

One of my favorite episodes of the Sci-Fi series Babylon 5 is the final episode of season 4, a backwards looking analysis of events leading way into the future as viewed from different peoples perspectives, some factual (in a fiction sort of way, I know it's not real) and some misinterpreted.

One iconic aspect of Christian life for me in the 20th & 21st centuries has been and still is the intentional Christian community.
Disciples who had taken the call to have all things in common and literally done that and have moved themselves into some form of intentional communal living.
(Post Green Community/Community of Celebration, The Bruderhof, Jesus People USA, New Creation Christian Community, The Simple Way etc.)

We are at a time in history when many, but not all, of  those communities are going through a period of deconstruction for various reasons.
Just like one of my favorite sci-fi series "Bab5" there will many who will take a backwards look at why this is happening, viewing it from different perspectives and often misinterpreting the signs.
One thing they won't be able to do is look back from the future, for unlike fiction that part hasn't been written yet, humanly speaking and possibly kingdom wise as well as I still have a somewhat open theology.

What we can do however is look at those who are deconstructing/reconstructing.

I read recently that deconstruction can be exhilarating at first but soon becomes boring, then the energy for reconstruction has gone, so some won't make it.

It's ok to be getting rid of bad practice, irrelevant practice, out of date practice and any other man made up damaging, abusive and even criminal practice but if you haven't the energy to listen and hear from the Holy Spirit you will just end up with much of the same... and off we go again not really learning from our mistakes and just saying things that pacify the angry and upset.

Happily there are some who are listening and they have the courage to try something different, learning on the way, prayerfully listening to God and prayerfully correcting  mistakes before they become religious practices.

So what would we notice that's different if we were to encounter one of these groups?
Firstly the isolationism has gone, no more living in a massive property in the middle of nowhere but in small semi's and detached houses on estates, in cul-de-sacs, on streets in the middle of impoverished communities, knowing their neighbor, where feeding the neighbors cat or knocking for the loan of some sugar or milk happens naturally.
Smaller groups, some single, some married, some with small children, homes that look lived in and are comfortable and welcoming.

Projects like this have been pioneered before. Groups like the Message trust have established projects in needy neighborhoods and are continuing to this day.

These small extended families often find employment in the local community and are available to get involved in other projects in the area, they tend to be less diary orientated than the larger more institutional communities, allowing time to build real ongoing relationships with their neighbors.

Fire and Shaking
Often deconstruction involves some burning and shaking, after all our God is an all consuming fire.
The problem with fire that is not restrained is that it will consume everything, that means everything good as well as bad.
Yea I know, before you get on my case about God destroying the good stuff let me just say, Its not Him, its us, we do it. 
Some times because we haven't prayed and listened, but mostly because the heady feeling of pulling something apart in the areas that have bugged us for years, remembering the pain and frustration we've felt while living it, gives us the motivation to say "it's got to go chuck it out".
This type of deconstruction is very shortsighted and comes from not being able to see what was good, what is good and what brings life and purpose.
There is almost a guaranteed time to come when the realization comes  that something important is missing and the ability to get it back has gone (those who have ears to hear).

One of the new initiatives i'm aware of seems to have as one of it priorities the establishing of a prayer room in the house where they are based, it might not be the first thing they do but to them it is important to get it established for the benefit of their common life together, they also decided that on most Sunday mornings instead of trotting off to join a larger congregation they hold a gathering in their home, in the neighborhood where they live.

The spiritual life of the household is important to knowing what to keep and what should go and what should be started.
Other things are important too especially  food, and fellowship along with regular bible studies. (Emphasis on food is mine... but one that is shared by many😊)

Having lived in the larger more institutional community i'm aware that some structural things were actually helpful, along with those structures that had a negative effect, mainly causing unhealthy co-dependency and over bearing abusive control.
The danger is getting rid of the good with the bad, because living a less structured lifestyle requires effort, you have to work at it.
The area of biggest concern will be those who are not living in the residential community but who live in their own homes and are intending to be a full part of the communities life.

The home being the castle and all that means that a real effort will have to be made to maintain the togetherness that was there in the more organised situation.
From our experience many will fail, gradually pulling back from meeting together and finding pleasure in their own company and the freedom that they feel they had been denied for such a long time, a common life will require determination on every ones part.
Some will need help and support, dependency will have crept in and the ability to function outside of the bubble will have diminished.

Many of the hurts and abuses that have plagued some of the larger intentional communities have been caused by the decisions made by leaders who have lived in the bubble so long that they no longer know how the world around them functions. Isolationism and a siege mentality that keeps the world out at all cost has been responsible for much of the pain and hurt that has caused some groups to deconstruct.
It's worthwhile saying here that much of the deconstruction has been forced upon them by the current social climate and had this not been the case they would have continued on in their merry blinkered, myopic way, a bit like the dwarfs in CS Lewis' Last Battle ( Chronicles of Narnia ).

One of the sad outcomes of this is to see and hear those who with the best of intentions have been serving the King of Kings for many years, suddenly come to the realization that in the name of Jesus they have caused hurt and pain while thinking they were moving in love. Deconstruction is messy, and reconstruction isn't for the faint of heart.

So respect to all who are building on the good of the old but moving forward in the new, may you impact your communities with the power of  the Love that clothes the naked, feeds the poor, heals the sick and cares for the prisoner in His Name.     

Living Community Pt2

After the decisions were made to live our lives as shared ones with other believers and so be able to impact the world around us more effectively we embarked on a whirlwind of house moves, new towns and cities and mission, all so we could try out ways of living a shared life. Some were more successful than others.

Our small family home was often bursting at the seams with Students from the local uni, or some guy we had met on the streets the night before, slightly intoxicated or heavily under the influence of some substance or other.

Looking back we probably appeared a little foolish to some of the folks from  the local Church groups that we had attached ourselves to, especially as we had six small children of our own.
When we told folk that the morning after we had provided hospitality to some waif or stray and that some of our household goods had gone missing you could almost hear their thoughts of " well what did you expect?"

Interestingly we continued to bump into groups from the Jesus Army/New Creation Christian Community during our adventures, we felt that we were on a parallel path and received much encouragement from them.

It was a struggle to find other Christians to share our enthusiasm for the common life but as time went on a little band formed, eight or so adults, some who moved in with us and others who lived close by.
The excitement and enthusiasm was there but if I am to be honest we didn't have much of a clue as to what we were doing.
Nevertheless we muddled through and as we are all still on speaking terms today I would say we survived the experience.

As time moved on we decided that we wanted to be part of something bigger and slightly more organised. So eventually we all in one way or another joined ourselves to the Jesus Army / New creation Christian Community (NCCC), those radical, inspiring people that had triggered things off for me many years earlier.

The intent of these posts is not to meant to be an analysis of that experience, especially as NCCC is itself going through a reshaping and re-envisioning time but to look at whether big organised community is actually "Living Community" or if there really are ways of Living community without actually living in the same property, as a large organised group? (the reason I ask this question is that the community life of the Church is often spoken of and claimed to be active but  often not very visible or even very tangible, the talk doesn't match the walk, from our experience)
Or is something more organic  whats needed at this time?
And if it's possible what are the pitfalls, what are the advantages?

Just to finish this post I would like to go back to those early days, times when our home was bursting at the seams with students from the local Uni.
Both my wife and I feel that this was a successful part of the journey, we were able to provide a warm caring environment for many young Christian men and women who were away from family, some quite a distance for probably the first time, who although looking forward to some freedom also longed for the security of family and home. We feel privileged to have been able to be Mum and Dad to these young lives, as well as ourselves and our children benefiting from their friendship and the big contribution they made to the kingdom life as we shared the ups and downs of daily living.

So this post was a little bit of a blast into the past, but I felt it important to lay a foundation, albeit briefly, that we're not without experience on the subject of community life, nor shall I be talking out of the proverbial armpit on the subject. (That is a matter of opinion of course)

Coming up... Is the shared life the normal Christian life or is it a gospel add on?
Who's doing it and is it working?
How do you measure success?

Living Community Pt1

I still remember the excitement we felt as my wife and I realised back in the early 80's that being part of the Christian Church was like joining an international, national and local family, and not belonging to some exclusive club and hobnobbing with those that were in and ignoring those that were out.

I had just returned from an outreach at the Glastonbury festival where the Youth for Christ team that I was a part of had just spent the weekend with a group from Bugbrooke in Northamptonshire called the Jesus Army, an experience that changed me forever both in regards to evangelism and Church practice.

It seemed that this JA (Jesus Army) group had found a way to be Church 24/7. They shared all things in common and regarded nothing as their own, they lived for each other and for the kingdom, which they called Zion.

This wasn't new of course, the model could be found in the book of acts and the history of the early Church. The difference was that they were actually doing it in the 20th century.

I had experienced some of this type of thinking before, my parents had always operated an open house policy. It wasn't unusual for me to arrive home to a house full of teenagers seeking some form of help or another or to find a gentleman of the road (commonly called a tramp) sitting in our kitchen eating a plate of food.
Mum and Dad later had a deeper shared lifestyle with a young man they befriended through Church where they pooled resources on a practical level, washing machines, car, meals etc.

So encouraged by this different way of doing Church we opened our home to any and all and were prepared to share our meager possessions with any who had need or felt the call to a communal lifestyle.

Of course the reality was different and we soon realised that those who saw an ongoing intentional shared life as part of their Christian calling were few and far between. This didn't stop us though and some time later after leaving our home town we spent some twelve plus years living in intentional Christian community.

But that experience is not what this story is about...
The question I want to explore is can you live community without living in intentional community, communally?

There is reason behind the question. As the years have moved on circumstances have changed, life in the UK has changed and community life at all levels both Christian or other is at an all time low.
Even the Jesus Army (New creation Christian community) is going through some serious changes in direction.
Yet many still long for that shared existence, that life that is interdependent , the desire to live simply and open with others and to be able to share with the lonely and needy that are around us.
Can this still happen without the communal living of a large household in one or more large properties? Does it need the rigid structure that some put in place, structure that would eventually strangle life and spontaneity and cause decline.

I believe it can and there are examples of something new, something organic, happening around us now.
Is this new? how will it work? is it more like what happened in the book of Acts than the previous incarnation?

part two coming soon.