Community lessons from the megachurch...

I've been thinking a bit about the whole community thing recently, mulling over some thoughts about the need for intentionality and how we communicate that to people...

And I've realized that community is one area where the mega church may have it over the micro church.

Whaaaat?

No really... stick with me here...

I wish creating community was easier
But the fact is, creating community is hard work... It doesn't just happen.

And it doesn't matter if we're talking about a mega-context or a micro-one. Community still takes work.
Individuals always have two choices- anonymity or engagement.

So where does the mega-church have it over the micro church?

At the mega church, it's understood by nearly everyone what the two choices are. You know going in that if you are going to find community among these 5,000 people, it's on you.

At the micro church, people for some reason think it's different...

We have "community" as one of our core values. And one difficulty with that is that some people come, expecting community to be handed to them.

I have a number of emails in my files from people who have sort of faded away after spending some time with the evergreen community. One of the common themes is that they say things like "I just haven't found community here."

As though community is something you stumble into, something others can create for you...

The truth is, while connecting to community may be easier for some than for others, at a base level, it's the responsiblity of every individual. You either choose to connect to community, or you don't. You either do the hard work of being present, getting to know others, being known yourself, or you don't. You either throw your life in with others in community, or you don't. Anonymity or engagement...

No one can do these things for you.
All the rest of us can do is create an environment conducive to building community. It's up to you to actually make community happen in your own life. It's up to you to engage.

A wise pastor (hey Mark!) once said to me "Whenever someone says 'I just don't feel conected to this community' a perfectly legitimate response is to ask 'So why have you chosen not to connect?'"

"Helping people feel connected" is a great church buzz phrase. I think we need to ditch it, though. Here's my suggestion for a replacement: Challenging people to engage.

What do you think?