June 8th, 2015 by Zac

Dietrich Bonheoffer said, “Our community with one another exists solely in what Christ has done to BOTH of us”.

Without this starting point of genuine honesty about our own brokenness, real community in the church family will likely be shallow.

This was the topic I was recently invited to speak about at a weekend church retreat in a nearby city called Banska Bystrica.

At one point in the retreat, one new church member (we’ll call him Don) gave his testimony. He was a new believer and had previously been a part of the local mafia gang and had spent several years in prison for numerous crimes. Since he was only a recent convert, the tension in the room was palpable. How would a recently converted criminal find real community in a group of mature Christians in a church? Could it really work?

After Don’s the testimony was over, this question hung in the air. It was a moment of decision for the church family. Would they accept him as a sinner just like them, broken and needing daily grace for every next step? Or would he be looked down on as an outsider, shady criminal type needing some time to make sure he’s got this spiritual experience figured out?

Every church family, small group or ministry has to start with this fundamental principle about the nature of real community.

I haven’t heard if Don found community there in that church family. But it was a helpful time of examination for my own understanding of real community.