Page 7 - C.A.L.L. #36 - Summer 2013

When forgiveness flows within the community, the individuals within finally come
alive. A resolved conflict breathes new life into the house, and it’s clear that all the
verses I was forced to memorize as a kid regarding settling things and not allowing
bitterness to take root actually held meaning for real life.

However, finding God in the
community usually isn’t about
times of praying together or
staying up all night
worshipping - at least not in
our house. For us, it’s about
finding God in the mundane
approaches to daily living
together - cooking and
cleaning, chore lists and game nights, crowding around for a Bourne marathon or our
weekly obsession with Lost.

We’ve centered more discussion on chores and how to treat specific belongings
than anything else. “Would you mind bringing back the entire set of dishes up in
your room?” “Can you please remove your laundry within 14 days of drying it?” Of
course, these statements sometimes come without the proper precursors of
politeness, leading to moments of tension between the party concerned and the
party who could care less. And how is someone to respond when others living in the
same place mistreat his or her possessions? It’s a lesson in ownership - that offers
another place of forgiveness.

It’s in these daily things, these little things, that love truly takes root. It’s in the
unglamorous, boring routine that your heart really begins to change. I had a
different mindset when we first began - believing that living together with other
Christians in the same life stage would lead to all-night talks about how church
should really be and how we would inspire one another.

But I was wrong - about a lot of things. I had no idea how selfish I could be and how
hard parts of my heart were. I didn’t know I could be loved and forgiven in such
deep, meaningful ways. And I also didn’t realize there could be such joy in sharing
life so intimately with others.

When it’s all said and done, living in community seems to be as honest an approach
as you can get to living out the Gospel. Those who go down that path experience
joys and sorrows in a whole new way, finding a deeper level of living. When it comes
down to it, the most I could want with my life is to live as authentically for the
Gospel as I can. For us, communal living is the way to be faithful to that calling -
intentionally placing ourselves in a position to be personally challenged and united
together in a common mission.

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